How Final Fantasy XIV Took Me Prisioner While Setting Me Free

Long time friends of mine know my troubled and turbulent history with MMORPGS.  From Ultima Online to Lord of the Rings Online, I always wind up ending my relationship with these games in hatred and emnity.  But I think the worse offender in this case was World of Warcraft.  Particularily because it's such a good game.

Part of the reason MMOs have never jived for me is the discrepancy between single player and multi player games.  In my gaming career, I spent 99.99 percent of the time playing single player games.  One of the rules in a single player game is that if you work hard enough and are skillfull (or lucky) enough, you can experience 100% of what a game has to offer.  As games got larger, this became more difficult, but the basic tenent stands.  If you invest enough, you can get a perfect experience.  MMOs work the same way too.  It's much bigger than the biggest single player game, but if you had unlimited hours, you can also experience all of what an MMO has to offer.  That's one of the driving principles behind my gaming.  I don't get 100% on all the games I play.  Not even close.  But I like the idea that it's possible.  That it's fair.  But MMOs have one thing that pushes the fairness factor to the other end of the scale.  Namely, people.  Other people.

Of course, other people are what you play an MMO for.  It's just that, at the same time, you are also totally dependent on them.  In the case of WoW, I wanted to see all the game has to offer, but the obstacles coming from other players often prevent that from happening.  This isn't so much a blame game as it is an acknowledgement.  For instance, it all came to a head when, after months of playing, I finally got the chance to run the Molten Core.  Molten Core, or MC, is a 50 person instanced dungeon in World of Warcraft.  One of the first.  Naturally, I was excited at the opportunity.  But then, people happened.  Just getting all 50 people organized took forever.  The time was set for 7pm, but by the time it was ready to go, for real, it was more like 8.  An hour wasted.  All that time, the people there were just talking.  Shooting the sh*t.  Dancing the night away, whatever.  As a classic introvert, I just kept to myself, impatiently waiting for the darn thing to get on with it already!

When the thing started, it lived up to the promise of being fun.  For about 10 minutes.  Then we got to, I think, the first or second boss.  It was a cerberus type beast.  The whole party stopped to a standstill as the leaders discussed strategy and organization.  So it was another chunk of time wasted before we can start moving again.  It was boring.  Worse was, the boss wupped the entire 50 person party, so the whole thing was a big waste of time.  I never ran MC again.  It was also one of the final straw.  Soon after, I sold every virtual item I had and gave the proceeds to my friend.  Then, out of spite, I deleted the character permanently.

It was a big lesson.  Playing an MMO isn't anything like a single player game.  To be fair, it's not the game's fault or the people's.  And, to my credit, I've also mellowed out.  A lot.  And that's when Final Fantasy XIV comes in.

Long story short, FF14 hooked me from the get go.  Back in the WoW days, I had a saying:  if they ever made anything as good as WoW, but with character and graphics designed by the Japanese, I'd drop everything and played that MMO.  Well, it took the better part of a decade, but FF14 is that game.  In a way, it's a dream come true.  And I finally learned to stop caring.  The game recently just came out with a big patch.  90% of all new content are for maxed level characters, none of which I have.  But I just ended up shrugging it off.  Afterall, there are still tonnes of things at the lower levels I haven't even touched, four fighting classes I haven't even looked at and enough crafting to make me want to level up a gathering class.  In other words, no big deal.  Let the level 50s have their fun while I have mine.  And the new 24 person dungeon recently added?  No thanks.  I'll try it once, but if I have to wait up to an hour just to get the thing rolling, I will never do it again. 

I have to thank Final Fantasy XIV for being a wonderful game.  A game good enough to justify giving up the past, starting anew, and just having a lot of fun.  And I've learned one of the better parts of playing an MMO:  playing with other people.  Shocking, I know, but being in a party of four, where everyone's progress depends on everyone elses, makes me feel like I'm a part of something bigger than myself.  Even the simple act of buying and selling on the auction house is an act of helping other's.  You're either providing what they need, or you are rewarding their efforts with your own.  It's a very spiritual thing.  In retrospect, I think I ran more dungeons in an FF party these past two months than in my six months with WoW and liking it 10 times as much.

In the end, I think life is much to short for an MMO.  That's why you just gotta play it.

Going Cold Turkey

Like most people, I was very excited about Achievements when it was first introducted.  Later on, it was followed by Trophies for PSN.  Now, I find them to be a hassle.  At best, they gave me something to do, but more often, they were an intrusive element.  Achievements and Trophies make me play the game their way, using weapons I don't like, with tactics which aren't fun and forces me to make in-game choices I regret.  Throughout the last console cycle, I've spent half my time just trying to ween off Achievements and Trophies, but honestly, nothing works.  One of the first things I do when starting a new game is go through the achievement list.  And no matter what I do, the idea of achievements are everywhere.  Even Steam has them, for god's sake, as does World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV.  So then, how does one get rid of the urge to collect trophies?  Cold turkey seems to be the only way, and the last resort.  But how do you do that, exactly, when everywhere you go, escape from their presence is impossible?

Well, one way is being forced to give them up. 

On PSN, I actually have two active accounts.  A main account, opened on the same day I got the PS3, and a sub account, opened later.  A sub account is basically a 'kid's version' of a main account.  It has purchasing restrictions, and is tied at the hip to the main account.  Long story short, I ended up using this sub account for the majority of my gaming.  This means all of my trophies were in my sub account.  Aside from the annoying restriction of having to do PSN purchases strictly via the main account, it was a workable deal.

When the PS4 arrived, however, things changed.  One of the things which captured my imagination this current console cycle is the idea of posting videos and screenshots directly from in-console onto things like Twitter and Facebook.  So imagine my chagrin upon finding out that this feature is totally barred from sub accounts!  A difficult choice presents itself.  Do I stick with using the sub account, keep all the earned Trophies, and give up ever using the ability to post on social sites?  Or do I give up on the sub account, revert back to the main, and totally forgoe all my Trophies earned?  In a way, the decision is moot.  The trophies are still there and they are still mine.  I'm not technically losing anything.  But on the other hand, what is out of sight is out of mind, yes?  I tend to agree on the latter.  Despite this, I chose to revert to the main account and forego all my Trophies.

What surprised me isn't that I made this decision, or why.  What surprised me was how easy this decision was to make!  Essentially, within an hour of figuring out this limitation, I was ready to give up my entire trophy progress.  Since then, I have never looked back.  The important thing to take away from this, I think, is that there is, indeed, something out there which superceeds the urge to perpetually collect trophies!  In other words, there is something greater than Achievements and Trophies, and that breaking away for something worth while isn't very difficult. 

This is an auspicious start to one day being free from the grasp of Achievements.  Do I still check them when I start a new game?  Yes, I'm afraid so.  Do I still get a tingly sensation whenever an Achiement pops or a Trophie chimes?  Yes.  But do I really care about them any more?  For the first time ever, I can hold my head up high, and say with a fair amount of certainty that no, I do not care about them anymore.

P.S.  While this happened on PSN, no such luck occurred on the Xbox side.  Fortunately, I absolutely hate the new Xbone interface.  Where as the 360 has their achievements lined up all neat in rows, the Xbone makes each achivement a garish icon which seems to take up a quarter of the screen.  Just scrolling through the list for a single game is an exercise in wasting time.  I'm hoping that this will one day allow me to just say 'screw it' to Achievements.

The Future of Console Launches is Now

The last two generation's of console launches were bad.  From the PS2 to the Wii everything was just a mess.  People had to line up in the early mornings and some folks still went home empty handed.  Supply numbers were a mystery and preorders were hit or miss.  But things seem to have turned around, hasn't it?  The launches for PS4 and Xbone were...  great!  I didn't hear of many late night line ups, nor were there much confusion over whether or not a preorder would come through.  And yet, some of the same problems persists.  There was definitely more demand than supply for both consoles, and some people who preordered still didn't get their units yet.

It sounds kind of contradictory, but it isn't.  The more things change, the more things stay the same.  However, the latest two console launches did a lot of things right.  For those of us who wondered whether Sony or Microsoft will ever learn, it seems that they have.  Here are a few things I've figured out as their secret to success.

While there were certainly supply shortages, both companies did their best to off set the pain.  Microsoft announced delays for several European countries.  These countries will not be getting a Nov 22nd launch.  Sony went even further, delaying the PS4 launch in it's native Japan until 2014 just so they can supply North American first.  They even pushed back the launch in Europe and Australia until Nov 29th, two weeks after the NA shipments.  All this effort means ample supply for the NA launches.  While it's not exactly fair to those countries not getting units on 'day one', at the very least you know where you stand.  If you live in North America, you've lucked out.  If not, you at least know how long to wait.  In the end, however, raw units made the difference. Both Sony and Microsoft sold over 1 million units each on launch day, which means, at the very least, that there were over a million units out there in the first place.  This is a far cry for the... what?  250 thousand for the PS3?

I preordered both machines from Gamestop.  A friend of mine did the same for the PS4.  Both of us got our systems on day 1.  I had to go over to Gamestop to confirm my PS4 preorder, while the store called me about my Xbox One.  The result is that I knew whether or not a unit will be there for me at launch.  This is huge because folks now know ahead of launch day whether they will get a system.  This means people won't be lining up at stores (not much, anyway).  Afterall, why bother?  Those lucky enough to get a machine?  They have all day to pick it up.  Those who don't, will know not to expend the effort.  In the end, I got both of mine without much of a hassle.  Just walk in, pay, and leave.  Another friend of mine ordered from Amazon, and he got his as fast as the mailman can deliver.  I'm assuming Gamestop and Amazon aren't the only guys on the ball, and this is important.  Knowing where you stand - if you will get a machine or not - takes down the confusion.  There are still some people who got the call saying they will NOT have their preorders filled first day.  But that sure beats not knowing, getting too hyped about a machine that won't arrive for weeks.

In the end, the old problem persists.  There still isn't enough for everybody.  But I think the foundations are in place for smoother console launches in the future.  Both companies supplied plenty of units and they made sure to set firm release dates for all the regions of the world.  But the retail side also pulled through to a great degree, letting people know the status of their machines.  There will still be those lucky people who walk into a store without a preorder and walked out with a next gen system.  And there are people who still don't have one, but want one.  But the most recent launches were a success.  Not just in the amount of units sold, but on logistics, organization and customer service.

Ys and Zelda Mixed at Birth

Recently, I had the pleasure of playing two fantastic games. Both are on hand held systems: Ys Memories of Celceta on the PS Vita and The Legend of Zelda A Link Between Worlds for the 3DS. Wonderful games, both. I started Zelda first. Had fun with it for a couple of days, then started Ys last night. I wanted to keep playing Zelda, mostly, maybe get it done before diving too deeply into Ys. The reason for this is the same reason why I have decided to just forget about Zelda, for now. And the reason is… I just like Ys more.

I get a sense of trepidation whever I think that. I mean, dropping Zelda? ZELDA! For Ys? Dropping a game in a series where grown men cry over a new zelda trailer at E3? A game where every release draws out the fans? A game where it's music feature in it's own concert? It's almost sacrilage. Zelda is good. Great, even! There's no excuse not to play. Not for Ys anyway. Of course, it's a silly thing to beat myself over… but…

But what it…. what if… Zelda is Ys and Ys is Zelda?

The two games are, in a way, polar opposites. Zelda is mostly 75% puzzle solving while Memories of Celceta is about 90% action. Link get stronger by finding power ups, but Adol levels up traditionally, with EXP and better gear. Zelda has tonnes of hidden stuff, but what you see is largely what you get in Ys. Link wears green, Adol is in red. Yet, they have much in common as well. Both heroes are mute. Both have a strong focus on Adventure, Doing Good, Helping People, and Saving the World. But the biggest common denomiator of all is that both series are great!

I first came into contact with the Ys series with the SNES release of Wanderers of Ys (which is Ys III). The game was every thing I had hoped for. Great characters, fast paced gameplay and a great story. My copy was a rental, and in the span of the week, I have beaten the game at least twice. That's how good it was. I enjoyed the game so much that I tried others in the series. Ys VI on the PSP, Ys Book I and II on Virtual Console, the remake of Ys III on the PSP. To be honest, none of those ignited the same reaction from me as Wanderers did. Until Ys Seven, that is. That game now stands as one of my top games of all time. From what I just mentioned, you might be wondering if I really like Ys, given that I barely played them. But the same can be said of my Zelda history. I refuse to touch Majora's Mask because the looping gameplay is a turn off. The DS enteries (Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass) forced players to use the stylus controls, not something I'm fond of. And I barely touched Link's Awakening or the Ages/Seasons games on the Gameboy. If I played more Zelda games than Ys games is only because there were more Zelda releases. The bottom line is, both series are fantastic.

Yet, Zelda is the series with the crying fanboys and the millions of copies sold. Ys is the niche hit which set fires in Japan but hardly a backdraft here in North America.

But what if history was reversed? Imagine an alternate universe out there where the creators of Ys worked for Nintendo while the creators of Zelda plyed at Falcom (Ys' developer, obviously). While Nintendo was busy singlehandedly inventing the console industry as we know it, it would have been Ys released as a golden cartridge while Zelda played on early Japanese PCs. Since both series featured new gameplay, noone without access to a time machine is going to be able to predict how both will turn out in present day, which means that Ys would have just as much chance of taking off in North America as Link did in our current universe. After all, both games played great and share some similarities (and major differences).

In essense, grown men can be crying at the mere sight of a new Adol adventure. Ys games would attract fans with every new release. Concerts would be made out of Ys music. (Incidentally, the music in Ys are some of the best ever in gaming. Here's something I can say with no compromise. The Ys soundtrack is much, much, much better than Zelda's.)

And then, I would be right. In such a world, dropping Zelda for Ys would just be the right thing to do…

Xbox One Impressions and Comparisons with PS4

The Xbox One is finally here!  And I got it!  Here are some first day impressions and happenings.

Hooking up the Xbone was a breeze and the day one patch went up within minutes with no issues.  Anyone worried about that should rest assured.  Kinect was pretty cool too.  I am not, however, impressed with the look of the dashboard.  Always did hate the whole Windows 8/Mobile look and I wish they didn't import the thing straight to Xbone.  The blocky icons and plain backgrounds do noone any favors.  I'm also not a big fan of advertising, and I'm disappointed (but not surprised) to see several just a scroll away.

The interface works a lot like the PS4.  You have your home screen, and any application can be paused and taken back to the home screen, where you can restart it at will or multitask with something else.  It's easy to use here.  Kinect was also fun to give voice commands to, and you can pretty much use your voice to do anything.  Even in certain apps, you don't have to touch a controller to navigate.  Just say the menu options and the machine will do it.  I don't find it more useful than a controller, though.  If my controller isn't within arm's reach, sure, but if I already have it in my hands, then voice commands are pointless.

I'm also very impressed with Forza Motorsport.  It's the only game I've tried at the moment, but I'm already blown away.  The independent trigger vibration was genius, and really helps with the racing.  The graphics are near photorealistic and the lighting effects were stunning.  Great game!

But there are some problems.  Can you believe the machine crashed on me already?  Here's what happened...  Forza 5 needs a whopping 6GB update on day one.  The machine started the installation automatically and after about 6% completion the game was ready to play.  I played it, enjoyed it, but it's not going to last forever.  After a few races, I got a message saying that the next part of the game hasn't been installed yet.  So I checked the progress on the home screen, and it says 15%.  I waited a while, and it still says 15%.  Now, my internet is very spotty, so maybe it conked out and noone noticed.  There were two options on the menu.  I can cancel the install, or I can pause it.  I chose cancel.  Nothing happened.  I chose pause.  The status now says paused.  I tried restarting it but nothing happened.  Worse still, none of the other apps are working either.  Clicking on icons don't do anything.  Naturally, I turned off the machine but when it I turned it back on... nothing.  No image, no sound, nothing.  Panic was setting in until my girlfriend turned the machine off via the 'touch button' on the console (disguised as the Xbox logo, so I couldn't even tell).  She turned it back on, and whew!  It works!  What's also funny was that the install now reads 97%, mysteriously.  A few minutes later (I dare touch nothing else) the install was complete.  It wasn't reassuring.

My next beef with the machine is Xbox Live Gold.  I've heard that a lot of features are locked (like Netflix) unless one is a Gold subscriber.  So maybe I shouldn't have been surprised when the video upload feature was locked to non Gold members.  See, the Xbone lets you capture game footage any time, much like the PS4.  But in order to even edit the darn thing, you need a Gold membership?  Is that stupid or what?  Uploading videos need a membership too.  That's just stupid.  Luckily, I was able to use my girlfriend's 1 month trial card.  Problem solved, right?  Not so.  Apparently, uploading the video only gets it to the Xbox servers.  Other Xbone users can view uploaded videos but there's no way to get it onto Facebook.  I searched online and found that maybe, just maybe, there is another way.  This way involves Skydrive, Microsoft's own cloud storage service, which is also an Xbone app.  But it doesn't work!  Everytime I tried to save anything to Skydrive, I would get an error.  The Internet (for once) was no help at all.  It took me a long time to figure it out, but here's what I did....  I went onto Skydrive's site directly from the web.  There, I logged in with my Xbox Live password.  Right away, the site asked me to sign a user agreement.  Aha!  That's it!  Agreement signed, the Xbone and Skydrive connection now worked.  Why didn't the machine just tell me to do this in the first bloody place??  Problem solved, right?  NO!  Turns out that I STILL can't post to Facebook.  There simply is no option!  Now I might have to get the app version of Skydrive for my iOS but that involves updating my iPad to the latest version of the OS which will slow it down and.... GRRRRR!

Stupid Microsoft.  Why make it so hard?

*sigh*  Well, that ended on a sour note.  So I'll stop.

So there it is.  My latest Xbone impression.  And last week was the PS4 write up.  Now I'll try to summarize and compare.

Hate to say it, but the PS4 is the hands down winner here.  It's got a much better looking interface, it never crashed on me and it lets me send videos and screenshots to Facebook first time, every time.  There's nothing complicated about it.  And I don't need a paid membership to do this stuff either!  Oh, and you can't access save files on Xbone for some strange reason.  Don't know why, but you just can't.  Stupid.

BUT!  The Xbone does win hands down for games and graphics.  I dare say Forza looks better than AC4.  I'm not sure that's a fair comparison, since Forza was built from bottom up to be next gen.  However, there's no doubt that Xbone has better games at this point.  I'm loving AC4 on PS4 but it's still a non exclusive game.  While Forza, which is a great game, is an Xbone exclusive.  Until Second Son, there's nothing on PS4 I want from Sony first party.  Oh and things download waaaaay faster on Xbone than on PS4.  The day one patch was bigger than Sony's but it installed in less than half the time.

In the end though, having a less than stellar launch line up and a slower connection is better than needing a paid membership just to access some key features.  I know Sony has their Plus program mandatory for online play, but they make up for it by giving us two free games.  I signed up for Gold and got zip for free. Indeed, features get taken away without it!  I have no doubt that Sony's gaming lineup with match up over time, and already, after the day one scramble, their servers are a bit faster.  However, some of the Xbone's bone headed features, like Skydrive or lack of access to save files, is something too cumbersome to ignore.

Don't take my word for it though.  The next gen console wars have yet to truly heat up.  But right now, Sony definitely has the better machine.

The PS4 is Here!

Yup.  And I'm a proud owner of a PS4.  This blog will be about my initial impressions.

In what has to the best launch ever, I got my preorder machine with no fuss, muss or line ups.  This was a far cry from the PS3, or even the Xbox 360.  It looks like console manufacturers have learned their lessons.  It seems like the Xbox One launch will be smooth too.  Anyway, about the PS4...

Setting up the machine to the TV was a breeze, along with setting up the Playstation camera (sold seperately, but I got one).  When I turned on the machine for the first time, the visuals already blew me away.  I haven't see a crisper background in my life, even though it's just a menu at this point.  This was also when the trouble started.  As everyone knows by now, there was a huge day 1 patch to the machine.  You need this before you can do any kind of online stuff with it and it is 350mb approx.  Sony, naturally, got their servers bogged down by all the PS4 owners doing the same patch, so no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get the patch downloaded.  Eventually, I had to go online with a PC, download the patch onto a USB stick, then use the stick to update the PS4.  For all of Sony's faults, at least they gave us this option.

By that time, it was getting late, so all we could do was hit the Playroom.  After a quick update (not nearly as big) for the Playroom, my girlfriend and I gave it a shot.  Playroom itself is nothing more than a tech demo to show off the controller and the camera.  So as it is, it isn't much.  We had some fun with two player air hockey using the controller's touch pad and played with some very cute robots with the camera's augmented reality feature.  Basically, robots appear on the screen, superimposed on an image of out living room via the camera.  Then we interact with these robots.  We can pet them or hit them, and they react accordingly.  To be honest, it's not that impressive.  But it is funny, and the robots were cute.

The next day, I woke up early to further test out the machine.  I bought into the PS Plus program and downloaded, for free, Contrast and Resogun.  Resogun is a side scrolling shooter with trippy visual.  It adequetly shows up the PS4s lighting muscles but I'm not sure if I should be impressed. It does look very, very pretty when the screen is packed full of enemies and bullets but, again, I'm not sure if this can't be done on the PS3.  Probably not, because the light show looks a little TOO pretty.

Next up was Contrast.  If there ever was a diamond in the rough, this game would be it.  It's got an unusual story involving a girl and her imaginary friend who has the power to fuse with shadows.  Unfortuately, I've see this premise already with Lost In Shadows on the Wii.  Graphically, aside from sharper than usual images via higher resolution, the game doesn't look next gen.  And when it moves, the frame rate doesn't really keep up.  Not as much as I could tell anyway.

So basically, it was up to Assassin's Creed 4 to really show off the power of the PS4.  Can't really expect much too, since the game also came out on the 'last gen' consoles.  The game plays great, as expected, but it doesn't use any of the controller's PS4 specific features (except the ability to scroll the map using the touchpad which is actually more cumbersome than using the analog).  I notice things in the graphics that the PS3 likely couldn't handle.  Weather effects were top notch, especially when it storms.  I also noticed crisper shadow effects than the older machines, too.  And I think (because I can't tell for sure) the 1080p resolution made it look sharper but there's nothing I can truly point a finger to.

So far, the only difference in performance I've noticed are much shorter loading times, and a very quick transition between game and the PS4's menu.  This is actually a bonus in one respect, because the sharing feature just won't be the same if the PS4 interface lags.  I've posted an image and a video on Facebook and both went off without a hitch.  The video capture feature was quite impressive.  At any time, I just hit the share button on my controller and the last 15 minutes of game play would be recorded for me right there.  All I had to do was give it a slight edit, which basically involved setting a start and an end to the video, crop it, then post it to social media.  All this was done in seconds.  The editing options could use a bit more features, however.  When previewing my video, it would be nice to be able to fast forward or rewind.

All in all, anyone looking for a true next gen experience should wait a year before picking this up.  As it is, the only difference between this and a PS3 would be the difference between a high end gaming PC and basic one.  For me, I'm loving it.  The machine is smooth, it's an improvement, and I can't fault the experience for being too much like last gen.  And I have every confidence that it would only get better.

The Steam Box: My Thoughts

So here it is, the fabled Steam Machine.  The biggest news in gaming last week was Valve's announcement of something we've all been expecting: a Steam based console. 

Here's a quick recap.  Last week, Valve announced a three pronged strategy to dominate the living room.  The same space taken over now by the big three console makers.  Valve announced:

1)  A Steam OS, which will be running games on…

2)  The Steam Machine.  Basically a console which will play games on Steam and…

3)  A brand new controller designed specifically for the Steam Machine.  Not just any controller, but something actually NEW.  And we're not talking about motion controls either.  I have no idea how it works, but can't wait to try it out.  Best you Google it if interested, though, because I won't be talking much about the controller in this blog…

So what is Valve trying to do?  Basically, they want part of the console market.  Will they do it?  My answer, in short, is… no.  The reason?  Folks like me.  I believe people such as myself SHOULD be the target market for this new machine.  I'm basically a pure console gamer, who prefers a controller to a keyboard, and a big screen to a monitor.  All this is pretty much covered by Valve and their strategy.  An OS targeted specifically for the living room?  Check.  A console like machine?  Check.  A new controller?  Double check.  Seems like all they need, right?  Not really.  They forgot one thing.  It's not something they don't have, but rather something they do.  They forgot to take the PC out of the console.

What I mean is…. Take the OS.  Please!  Okay, that's an old joke.  The thing is… in the history of console gaming, not a single manufacturer boasts about their OS.  Not Sony, not Microsoft, not anyone.  And you would expect if anyone wants to boast, it would be Microsoft.  There's got to be a reason for it and simple common sense tells us that console gamers simply don't care.  So long as the game works when we stick the disk in, it doesn't matter one iota what kind of OS it uses.  The fact that Valve makes a big deal out of it tells me that they aren't using the right message to target their audiences.  On the other hand, what kind of OS a machine uses is huge for a PC gamer.  I've known a couple in my time, and most PC gamers get a kick out of configuring their system to play games as much as they do playing the game.  Not so console gamers.  We just want the game to work, period.  With as little fudging around as possible. 

Any piece of software would be useless without hardware, and here too, I find Valve's message to be lacking.  They basically announced this a little too soon.  There's no hardware specs, or pictures of how it would look.  Quite unlike the other console reveals, which pretty much have everything finalized.  From what I've read on the actual machine itself, it appears that Valve is willing to let anyone make their own hardware specs, so long as they all use the Steam OS.  This is similar to Android, in which anyone can make a phone for it to use.  Would we see a Samsung Steam Machine?  We could.  And here's where the problem begins for a console gamer like me.  I want to be certain that the machine I buy can run all the games, all the time, for as long as the hardware cycle lasts.  Valve already went and said that the hardware for the box is customizable, and different tiers can be made by almost anyone for any purpose.  This is just like the PC market, where you have everyone from HP to Dell making anything from weaker netbooks to full on gaming rigs.  As a console gamer, why would I want that?  The biggest advantage of getting a PS3 is that I know I can play any PS3 game on it from now until forever.  Or until the system breaks.  If anyone can make a Steam Machine, then what stops manufacturers from making a new iteration of consoles every year?  So every year you have to shell out more money to keep up?  No thank you.

The only thing these announcements tell me is that the Steam Machines are nothing more than PCs desigined to be hooked up to a living room TV but I still don't really understand why people like to do this.  The technology has been around since forever which allow users connect a PC to a TV if they wish, but most PC gamers don't.  They are perfectly happy with their smaller monitors.  So I don't really understand why Valve is importing the whole PC centric culture into the living room when their own customers see little point in doing so.

P.S.  I wrote all that in the paragraphs above last week, but didn't get around to posting until this week.  Today, the theories were pretty much confirmed.  The Steam Box, or Steam Machines, are basically PCs designed first and foremost to work with your TV.  It will be manufactured by anyone who is interested, and the OS is open sourced to any one who is interested.  They also came out and said that the high end boxes can cost as much as $1000.  So basically, I still don't get it.  Who will buy this thing?  Not the diehard console gamers who prefer ease of use and not the need the have to upgrade every year.   Certainly not the price sensitive people (not unless they are willing to go with 'lower end' builds).  So who?  I have no idea.  And that's why I think this will go no where.

Of course, we've all heard of those famous Steam sales, and half off any game is a great deal.  It's just that….  If I wanted to put up with all that PC nonsense I might as well buy a new PC…

What's in a Name?

Back in the days when JRPGs were the kings of the hill, there was a neat little innovation taking place.  PC games probably had this about 10 years ahead but it was the console space where I had experienced this first.  I'm talking about the simple act of choosing your character's name.  I still remember the thrill I got the first time a game (probably Dragon Warrior/Quest) asked me to enter my name as the name of the hero character.  There after, every time my name pops onto the screen, I would get chills.  I mean, there it is, big as life.  My very own name.  Since then, I've entered my name on dozens of occasions and watched with a smile as NPCs praise me for my courage, stare in awe at my power, and call me out as a hero by name.  It really felt good putting a piece of myself into the game world, and as a kid at the time, it went a long way towards building my self image.  It didn't really bother me how none of it is real, and that I'm just an armchair hero.  The fact is, there's someone in the game with my name, under my control, in another world inside the TV and every time he did something, I felt like I had done it.  Now back then, in the days of Final Fantasy 6 or Dragon Quest III, the character with your name can't really do much.  Most games are linear, and it doesn't seem like you're affecting the world other than the way the game wanted you to.  Not like Oblivion or Knights of the Old Republic.  Not even multiple endings like Shin Megami Tensei IV.

Ironically enough, by the time these games came out, I was no longer putting in my own name.  Somewhere along the line, I deviated but don't know why.  Maybe I got tired of identifying myself with characters who are not really me.  Or maybe I just felt a little self conscious using my name in a game.  But either way, I stopped.  Or rather, I used a nickname.  For the longest time after ditching my real name, I began using the nickname 'Lashaar'.  'Lashaar' was actually a name I had used for one of the characters in Tales of Destiny.  In that game, you're not limited to just the ability to name your main character, but you can rename every character in your party the way you see fit.  Games like these are fun because you can use your friend's names in place of defaults, and pretend that it's your friend acting out the roles as prescribed by the game.  But for Tales of Destiny, I didn't use friend's names.  I just made names up as I went along.  It just so happened that 'Lashaar' was the name I used for the character of 'Leon' in Tales of Destiny.  Leon is a classic tragic figure, and I felt his plight in a very real way, making a connection between myself and Leon/Lashaar.  Since that time, I started to use 'Lashaar' as a way to be me yet without naming myself.  So it's like a nickname.

'Lashaar' worked, until recently when I got tired of that too.  This time, I think it's because I'm already an adult.  And don't really need to relate myself to game charactes anymore.  I'm more comfortable with the distance between my real self, and any virtual self I see on my TV.  In a way, I've grown up a bit, realizing that I have a place in this real world just like how I have a place in the virtual one, and there's really no need to co-mingle the two.  In this sense, even using 'Lashaar' is too much like using my real name.  So I ditched it.  Now it becomes a problem.  What do I call myself now?  There are no default names when playing games like Fallout or Skyrim.  I had to enter something.  So I named myself as a concept.  More specifically, I call myself 'Beingness' now.  Strange, yes?  But that's the point.  It's not a name so much as it is a concept, which is perfect for my needs since it is not a name which needs to refer to me.  Indeed it's not a name at all.  I chose 'Beingness' because I enjoy the idea of having a name which makes no sense.  What is 'beingness'?  Being what, exactly?  This reminds me of some spiritual tenents some of you might have heard before.  How there  can be something that is an embodiment of nothing, but at the same time, everything.  Light and dark.  Here and there.  Male and female.  Beingness as a name, kinda has that quaility of being this or that, but neither this nor that.  In otherwords, it's perfectly neutral and so perfect for my needs. 

Yes, it's really strange having characters in the game call me Beingness.  Sometimes I wonder how it all sounds so weird but have since grown used to it.  In games where the space for the name is shorter, I would using 'Being' instead.  This makes it less awkward sounding, so for most games now I go with 'Being'.  It captures the essence of 'Beinginess' while at the same time, making it easier to get a handle on.  Right now my charater in SMT IV is called 'Being'.  I still identify very much with the character, but it's not because of my name.  I do it because I choose to.  Because it's a good game.  Otherwise I'm happy with using a concept in place of having a character.

PS.  I won't use a name like 'Beingness' in an MMO though, prefering a normal sounding name like 'Sofia' instead.  This is simply a practical consideration.  I would rather meet up with real players without the burden of having to explain my name.  Greases the wheel of social interaction.

An Accidental Collector

Several weeks ago, a friend told me that a copy of Earthbound for the SNES with box and book is selling to upwards of $600.  Of course, it's not that easy.  The North American copy of Earthbound also came with it's own full sized strategy guide and I'm fairly certain it won't be worth that much unless everything - including the guide - is accounted for.  That was back then.  Today, games being bundled with guides or statues or any number of knick nacks are considered 'collector's editions'.  Back in the SNES day, there were no such thing.  A game which came with it's own strategy guide was simply a game that came with it's own strategy guild.  Nobody thought to collect the darn things.

And ironically, that's why it's worth so much.

After a bit of thought, it came to me that most of these so called 'rare' games which are worth a bucket load of cash on Ebay are collected accidentally.  That is, someone buys the game, plays it, puts it away for 20 years and then finds out it's worth hundreds of dollars.  This person, I'm betting, never thought to put the copy away so it could be worth something one day.  In the same way, I too am an accidental collector.  A few (very few!) of my games are worth 'something' (something small) but that's because I buy an abnormal amount of games so one or two of those purchases are bound to pay off.

One such game (and the crowning jewel in my collection) is Panzer Dragoon Saga for the Sega Saturn.  Not many copies were printed of the North American release of the game (this is the only version worth something) and that's no surprise considering it's release at the very end of the Saturn's life cycle.  It's also the very first game I have ever pre ordered off EB!  (My second is Magic Knight Rey Earth…. I wonder if that's worth anything…)  And now it's worth a couple hundred bucks and is also considered one of the rarer games.  Still I never meant to collect it.  It was bought, played, and just sat there for 20 years.

Even today, this still appears to be the case.  My friend also told me about Xenoblade Chronicles, which apparently is worth more than it's sticker price, because of limited quantities.  Again, this is in reference to the North American version, which was only availiable either through Gamestop or pre ordered from Nintendo.  It's no surprise that quantities are limited.  Not THAT limited, however, because I hear there are around 300k copies of these floating around but unlike Panzer Dragoon Saga, it's still fresh in peoples minds and, being a newer game, people might actually want to play it.  So I'm quite happy I own a copy, but again, it wasn't because I planned on a rising resale value.  It just happened that way.

This is why I'm very skeptical of all these 'special editions' floating around out there for just about every game.  Yeah, you get statues, soundtracks, art books and the like but it's highly unlikely it'll be worth anything.  Or maybe it will and I'll eat my tongue but I do have a bit of an example for what I'm talking about.  So I mentioned Xenoblade, right?  It's not crazy rare or super expensive but it's deifnitely more than you would have paid if you pre ordered.  Following the release of Xenoblade is another JRPG:  The Last Story.  My friend says that's beginning to crawl it's way up the value ladder and I'm sure plenty of people missed the first collector's run (with the artbook and box).  People who have been burned by one or both titles aren't making any more mistakes, so when another JRPG comes out, a game by the name of Pandora's Tower, people started to snap them up…  in doubles.  Which is kinda ridiculous because now you've got two copies out there for every one person who wants to play it, and honestly, that isn't going to make the game any more rare.  When people start buying games just to collect, ironically, is also when the value of these games take a nose dive.

A perfect example of this is the comic industry in the 90's.  As everyone knows now, old comics in good condition are worth something.  You know it now, but back 30 years ago noone does.  So when these comics printed in the 60's and prior start to be worth something in the late 80's, people took notice.  In the 90's, comic book companies are churning out new '#1' issues by the dozen, just to attract speculator dollars.  Comic collectors would buy 20 copies of these issues hoping to make a quick buck down the line and the book publishers made a lot of money.  So many of these 'collector's issues' were printed that, unsurprisingly, the supply became over saturated and the issues ended up having no worth.  The folks who bought 20 copies of Supreme #1 lost out and these same people stopped buying.  Demand suddenly tanked and the great comic crash was the result.

Now I'm not saying the gaming industry will crash in the same way.  But what I am saying is this:  if you buy something hoping it'll go up in value, you better make sure noone else is doing the same.  And in today's 'collectable edition' mentality, that is much harder said than done.  I am still convinced that whatever is worth something now only got that way accedentally a very long time ago.

Microsoft Doesn't Care About Games

That's right, you read it here first, folks.  Microsoft no longer cares about videogames.

Oh, what's that, you say?  They had just officially announced their next console, so they can't possibly have given up on games?

To which I say, oh really?  Did you see any games?  Well… yes, you do, but you also see a whole lot more.  Like football.  TV.  Skype.  Halo TV show.  Oh, did I mention football?  Yes, there were a bunch of sports games.  Yes, they did show footage of the new Call of Duty and yes, it's still too early to show off their other games (namely the 15 exclusives they mentioned but did not name except one) but let's face it, most of the announcement were not gaming related and sports games are nothing to get excited about.

The thing to remember here is that this is Microsoft's 'big reveal'.  This show is supposed to tell the world what the Xbox One is all about.  And it did.  It's just not about games.  If it was about games, they would hype the systems gaming features.  Things like a list of developers on board, or at least, a list of titles slated for the machine.  They can save the game footage for E3, that's fine.  But at least show use a plan which actually involves games.  Show off what your new machine can do to help us experience games in a whole new way, and no, having Kinect built in does not count.  We want to see something new.  New games, new features, new titles, new exclusives, that kind of thing.

Instead, we were treated to a… well, a PC, really, with Skype, multitasking, TV watching, web surfing… pretty much the kitchen sink included but very little of that was gaming related.  At least Sony has a plan for bringing social connectivity to our regular gaming.  But the Xbox One?  Nothing.

So here's where I tell you Microsoft's real plan.  They plan to dominate your living room with the Xbox One; essentially an all-in-one machine (hence the name) to let you do everything you can dream of in the living room.  TV, web, games, etc, etc.  If you follow Microsoft's moves, this isn't news.  What is new is this:  Microsoft's new machine involves a lot of things, but if you consider yourself a gamer, then the one thing it doesn't involve, is you.  That's right, this is Microsoft's outright rejection of 'the gamer' and their embracing of everyone else.  Who is this elusive 'everyone else'?  People who don't consider themselves gamers.  People who play nothing but Call of Duty, for instance.  People who dabble in videogames only until Monday Night Football shows (which they can now watch on Xbox One).  People who would rather watch Halo on TV than play Halo.

The proof is in the reveal.  Just who was Microsoft targeting with their launch?  There were just too much 'mass market' in that show to be a conincidence.  Most of the tech and nerd speak of that show were glossed over by mass market offerings.  Sports, is a very safe, massively popular past time, and Call of Duty is about as mass market as you can get and still be called a video game.  And Skype?  Web browsing?  Those fall under a lable everyone does at one time or another called 'communication'.  Finally, watching TV is something everybody understands.  So, if you are a television watching sports lover who enjoys voice chatting while surfing the web and likes to dabble in a shooter or two (and only shooters), then the Xbox One is probably the best thing since sliced bread. 

The clues are all there.  Microsoft is aiming the Xbox One to everybody, but what gets shuffled up and lost are all the gamers in between.

My First Person Shooter History

I used to hate first person shooters.

I consider Bioshock Infinite to be the best game of all time.

These two statements are a shocking contrast, yet, they also perfectly describe my journey into the world of first person shooters.  Like many, my very first FPS was Wolfenstine 3D.  This very first experience was pretty much just me trying taking five minutes to walk through that first door.  After that, I powered down the game, never to return.  Having gotten off to such a bad start, it was surprising that I never game up on the genre, but subsequent attempts have not endeared me to the first person perspective.  Hexen, the fantasy FPS hybrid, nearly make me puke with motion sickness and Decent was a confusing jumble of corridors going up, down, sideways, inside and out.

For a very, very long time, I hated first person shooters.  Which explains why I've never played Doom or Duke Nukem.  Or got into Counter Strike or Unreal Tournament.  Not that these last two would have made much difference, since multiplayer was never my thing.  You really can't toss a dead cat around without hitting a FPS, however, so there comes a time when I just had to go back.  My very last PC experimentation with the genre was Vampire:  The Masquarade.  That's when I figured out one reason why I hated first person shooters in the first place.  I hated mouse and keyboard controls.  It doesn't matter how much more accurate a mouse is compared to a pad, or how many keys a keyboard has comparied to a Dual Shock, I can never, ever, play PC games with the default controls.  This applies double to first person shooters.

But my console forays were rocky also, no doubt about that.  There was a period of time when I joined a group of like minded fellas and we played (on LAN) Xbox games like Halo and Castle Wolfenstein.  These were very fun times.  Yet, when I tried Halo as a single player experience, the whole enterprise fell apart.  I just couldn’t get into it.  It's not just Halo either.  I detested games like Half Life and it's sequel for which I passed on the PC to play on consoles.  These three games were just oh, so boring in the single player sphere.  To this day, it mystifies me how peple think Master Chief is a 'badass'.  He's not.  He's an idiot who left Cortana alone so she can get abducted and have the location of Earth compromised.  And don't get me started on that lifeless shell we call Gordan Freeman.  Not even the gravity gun in Half Life 2 can rescue that pointless adventure.

Yes, I hated first person shooters.  Even on consoles.

But one day, the light dawned on me.  And the game that finally opened my eyes was a shocking one.  It was Halo 3.  Everything clicked in that game.  Halo 3 itself wasn't the greatest.  But it was the first game where I understood how much fun it is to go running and gunning with just a hand holding a gun.  Unfortunately, the exact reason why this game broke my mold still eludes me.  However, I will always remember how Master Chief lept from the top of a high building to the back of a giant mech for which he proceeded to blow up from the inside.  In any case, I'm glad the streak finally broke, because after that, I went on a rampage of FPS gaming.  Battlefield Bad Company, Modern Warfare, Singularity, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Bioshock, Bulletstorm, Dishonored, Portal and Portal 2; I've played them all.  Even the RPG spin offs like Fallout 3, New Vegas and of course, Oblivion and Skyrim. 

Now, finally, the story comes to a head.  This time, with Bioshock Infinite.  This is absolutely the most memorable game I have ever played, and is absolutely perfect.  This is the Citizen Kane of video games.  The Mona Lisa of gaming.  The 'War and Peace' of interactive storytelling.  Bioshock Infinite is at once a game and a work of art.  It's story is as much a blockbuster as it is a metaphor.  The whole experience itself is like peeling back an onion.  The more you play, the deeper you go, the more you play.  It is perfection. 

And where would I be now, had I not finally opened myself to first person shooters?  Stuck in parallel universe.  A twilight zone in which the best game of all time would have passed me by.

A Very Long Response

This next blog is in response to Ironix's blog, but it's too long to post as a comment!  So here it is.

Alright, I read your blog twice over, so the debate ought to go well.

Let's put a few things into perspective we both agree on.  1)  The price of $55 is just way too high.  2)  The best bet this game has of selling is, indeed, through it's already existing fans.  You made very convincing arguments on the second point.  I also agree that Namco must justify themselves regarding this decision.  However, I still do not agree with the main thrust of your argument, which is that Namco Bandai made a mistake.  They didn't, and here's a short list of why.

1)  The PSP is dead.  I know I beat you over the head with this but it's important for any consideration of the facts.

2)  The PS Vita is nearly dead.  As an owner myself, I'm saddened by this beyond words.  However, the dismal release list speaks for itself.

3)  The iOS platform is plenty healthy, and is spread over iPhones, iPads and iPods, which makes for a great market.

Now we both agree that the price is ridiculous and the fans are important.  So let's take a look at why Namco did what they did.  Put yourself in the publisher's shoes for a second.  If you were to put out Idol Master Fiesta, what are your options?  There are several, but I think it boils down to two general decisions.

1)  To localize for the PSP/Vita

2)  To localize for iOS.

In your arguments, you say that fans are the ones who will buy at the 55 dollar price point.  Yes.  Fans are the ones who will initiate other players into becoming fans.  Also yes.  BUT, this actually works against you.  Because the BEST way to attract existing fans AND to pull in new ones is through  option 2, the iOS.  Why?  Because you cannot grow the market using option 1.  Suppose I were to try to get a friend to buy Fiesta on the PSP/Vita.  It would be easy to do so if they already had the machine.  But not so much if they don't.  It would be very difficult to get anyone else to buy the game if they also had to shell out for a system they don't have but it's doubly so when the systems in question are DEAD!  So how do you intend to grow your fan base on dead platforms?  It doesn't work very well.  The iOS is a whole different story.  Not only is the platform evolving (iPhone 4, 4S, 5, etc.) but there are plenty of people who already have one variation of the machine, so it's easy to gain new converts through existing fans.  Yes, it's too bad for the folks who have a PSP/VITA but not the iOS.  But there are bound to be an overlap.  I'm sure a lot of fans who have a PSP also have an iOS device.  Put yourself in Namco's position and you can see that - if they are serious about growing their fan base - the PSP/Vita option is the more limiting choice.

This is the main thrust of my argument but your blog also points out a couple other issues I wish to address.  Now I didn't read the original article on this announcment, but you mentioned that Namco didn't give anyone warning regarding the iOS decision?  But isn't the warning the news piece itself?  It seems to me this announcment IS the warning you've been looking for.  Afterall, the game isn't out yet (am I right?  I'm not sure).  And of course, there are also the issue of price point, and their mismarketing (in your opinion) to their target audience (the fans).  But on that second point, I argue that there is no mismarketing.  Why?  Because this is their first attempt to bring any Idol Master title to North America.  So any marketing they do now is brand new, at least from Namco's perspective.  For you, who have been enjoying the titles since the beginning, it feels like a betrayal.  But to Namco, it's their first foray into new territory for a 'new' IP.  In order to launch successfully, they must not only balance existing fan base, but also to consider a new audience.  Which, I think, means taking a few risks.

Which is exactly what I think is happening here.  Let's consider several facts:

1)  It's easy to port games to Android, PSP, Vita.  Relatively speaking.

2)  It's easy to lower the price of a title on iOS.  Happens all the time.

Put those two together and what we have is classic risk versus reward.  Only, in this case, the risk isn't as great as you think.  If Namco localized for PSP, they are guarenteed a niche audience.  But why stop at that?  With the iOS, they have a potential hit on their hands beyond what can be provided by niche.  And here's where iOS flexibility comes into play.  What Namco is doing is simply this.  They are testing the waters.  That's it.  No more, no less.  They publish for iOS, not because they are shooting themselves in the foot, but rather because iOS is the perfect test platform.  If 55 bucks don't sell?  No big deal.  Slash it in half!  They are free to set whatever price until it's optimal.  Even if noone buys at 55, someone will at 45.  Then 35.  Then 25, and on and on.  And, if the game takes off, even a little, you can bet on an Android port and maybe a PSP/Vita version, too.  Now you say that price adjustments are easily done on the PSN.  Yes, however, I think, they are not just testing the price point, they are testing iOS itself.  It's no secret that console sales are down and developers are flocking to mobile.  What better way for Namco to get into the mobile action than to port over something with a small but installed fan base just to get it's feet wet?

So that’s my answer.  Why did Namco do what they did?  Simple.  They are making a gamble, testing the iOS waters, and going from there.

 

To Shoot or Not to Shoot?

Several years ago, my boss at the time asked me a question.  This was around the time the first Black Ops came out.  Knowing what a big gamer I am and the hype Black Ops was getting, she asked me if I was getting this game.  I said no.  She ask why.  I said, 'because I don't want to play a game about shooting other human beings.'  She was surprised but impressed by the answer.

Fast forward several years, though, and what are my favorite games of 2013?  Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite, two games where there are plenty of human targets to shoot in the face (or arms, or legs, or stomatch).  Clearly, I'm no saint, but at the time of the first Black Ops, I meant what I had said.  And I still do.  So how can I say one thing, and do the other?  Because I WANT to play games with less violence rather than I MUST.  That's the difference.

You can call me a hypocrite or a player of semantics but in my defense I play plenty of other types of games.  Just in 2013 alone there's been Atelier Meruru, Fire Emblem Awakening, Metal Gear Rising, Resistance 2, Metro 2033, Devil May Cry and Pandor's Tower.  Not all of these games involve killing fellow human beings and some of them are barely violent.  Out of the ten games I've played listed here, half of them feature human beings as the enemy, the other half are monsters, demons or aliens.

So if I don't want to play violent games, if I don't want to shoot at other virtual humans, then why still do?  Because the violent games are....  Just.  Too.  Good.  Its' clear after the first 15 minutes of gameplay that a lot of blood, sweat and tears when into the making of both Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider.  Very high production values, lovely graphics, great story, and fantastic atmosphere make both must play experiences.  If I wanted to be a pacifist, I'd be giving up two of the best gaming experiences of 2013 and there's no way I can do that.

I do imagine what would happen if some of those great gaming goodness rubbed off on the other, less violent games.  If Pandor's Tower had just a tad bit better a story and more interactivity and benefited from a higher production value, I wouldn't be thinking of quitting this game.  If Atelier Meruru was just a little less focused on crafting I'd stick with that to the end, too.  Or, how come they don't just make Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite… and just tone down all the blood and violence?  Both games would still work extremly well without both.  At least, that's what I think.

So that's the delimma.  Give up on some great gaming experiences or stop complaining about game violence.  A stark choice, but it's a razor edge I've been living on for years.  Luckily, there is a silver lining.  A truly excellent game doesn't glorify violence.  Yes, there are blood and yes, there are shooting other humans but usually, well made games also come with a bit more… art to it.  It doesn't entirely justify the gore but it does put things into perspective.  In the case of Tomb Raider, it tells the story of Lara's rise from innocence to hardened survivor and in so doing, elevated this already iconic character to legendary proportions.  You can say the story and character benefitted greatly from what happened in the game, blood and violence being only parts of the whole, the others being determination, perserverence, resourcefullness and courageousness.  Though I have yet to beat Bioshock Infinite, it is already somewhat less violent than the first game and the focus of Infinite is decidedly away from blasting people to other lofty ideas, such as patriotism, facism, racism and the dangers of a personality cult.  Basically, more than just the shooting and the destruction, the game's atmosphere is the true attraction.  Though it helps that the action itself is quite top notch.

There will always be an effort on my part to avoid the truly gratuitous depictions of violence.  I will never enjoy Madworld, for instance, and I do try to stay away from most military shooters (the story never fully justifies the means, unless that story belongs to Spec Ops: The Line).  However, if they keep making great games I will keep playing them, shooting whomever needs to be shot.

Big Move, Little Game

It's been like, forever, since my last blog.  That's because I've moved out!  After 20+ years of living in the same place with my parents, I've finally moved in with my girlfriend into our own place.  How is it?  Wonderful!  We've only been living there for less than two weeks but already I can start counting the blessings.  We bought ourselves a brand new condo and the best part about picking your own place is enjoying the stuff we picked.  For instance, I love being able to use a glass shower every night rather than a tub and shower curtain (it's got that hotel feel that I love).  The floor to celing windows still give me pause whenever I look at them because they are just gorgeous at night (at least until the neighbouring condo gets built and cover up the view.  Booo!).  While the place is on the small side, I'm growing onto it because it can also be described as cozy.  Everything is within a few seconds walk from everything else, so grabbing something when thirsty is easy, and it's great knowing that everything you need is 'within reach' so to speak.

 

The best part, however, is getting to spend more time with my girlfriend!  We're both getting along splendidly, and we each contribute our share to the home chores.  After all these years living with my folks, I can't imagine anyone I'd rather spend time with than with her.  Of course, we give each other our space too, so we're not always in each other's faces.

 

The actual moving and preparation was pretty exhasting, and during that time, I went days on end without playing a single video game.  I never would have thought it possible had I not done it.  If it wasn't for the portability of the 3DS (and Fire Emblem), I would have gone weeks without gaming.  As it was, I only got to play Fire Emblem maybe two hours tops during the busy days.  Normally, I try to spend at least a couple hours playing games a day, with weekends maybe double that.  Yet, here I went for weeks without my daily gaming bread.  Not only did I survive, I also thrived.  The amount of stuff my girlfriend and I got done for the move was Herculean.

 

We each took a week off to prepare our new home.  Normally, whenever I have days off, I would naturally play games.  It's not unusual for 12 hour marathon sessions for times when I don't have to go to work.  This time, though, we spend 12 hour days just getting our new place ready.  Within a week, we bought furniture, built furniture, set up our internet/tv/phone, bought a matress, and managed one very big move and a million smaller ones.  With all this comes the logistics:  the planning, the deliveries, the waiting, hand wringing when problems inevitabily occurred…  It was pretty insane.  And all that, without me even so much as touching a controller (at least, not without packing it!).

 

I honestly don't know WHAT I'm trying to say with this blog.  Am I saying that gaming has become less important to me?  No, because I've been back on the scene now, with DMC and Tomb Raider.  Am I saying that there are tonnes of stuff I can accomplish if I weren't playing games?  I guess so.  But I don't think I ever want to give up gaming! 

 

I think what will happen now is that with home ownership responsibilities, I will HAVE to play less games.  But the ancilliary to that would be the enjoyment which comes from having one's own home.  And with that comes the ability to shape one's destiny.  Whatever happens next… more games, or less games, the important thing is to remember that the future is in noone's hands but your own.

 

The Shallows

On this very blog, there have been a few postings regarding mobile games.  Anyone who reads them would probably get a good idea of my stance on such forms of entertainment.  I'd like to say that my experience of mobile gaming was positive over all, or that I'm excited about the prospect of more such games to come, or that these smaller games would make a good compliment to the bigger games I play today.  I want to say that I'm open to apps and mobile games, but, unlike Luke Skywalker, deep down inside I know that's just not true.  The following story should illustrate the point.  Since most of the participants' names start with 'J' and since they are all co workers, I'd rather not use real names.  Instead, I'd call them 'J-girl', 'J-guy' and 'J-dude'.

 

So here I was at work, and on my way to deliver some documents to another group.  I caught J-guy and J-girl chatting about iPhone games.  Knowing that I'm a big gamer, J-girl turns to me and says:

 

"Hey, have you heard of this game called Nemo's Reef?"

 

That innocent remark was enough to stop me in my tracks.  I literally stared at her and took a step back, like she just offered me a box of cancer sticks.  I said, "Um… I don't do those." 

 

There was a brief awkward moment where J-girl shot daggers at me with her eyes before J-guy says: "You could have been nicer about it."

 

Which is true, I could have, had the question came so suddenly, I was caught in the headlights.  There was no place to run.

 

J-girl:  "Well, the game lets you build a reef, and you have to spend real money to buy stuff like pearls and…"

 

I forgot most of what she said, but I saw my way out.  "Um… see, that's why I'm not into those things."  It was a feeble excuse, and I know it.  While it's true enough that microtransactions don't do much for me, it's not exactly a dealer breaker IF I really like a particular game.  I've 'invested' before in Dungeon Hunter…

 

It was then that rescue came from the form of J-dude.  He was passing by when he heard J-girl's explaination and nochalantely added, "Those Android apps aren't real games.  Just something to play for five minutes while waiting in line."  Bless you, J-dude, bless you!  The man took the words right out of my mouth, words that I was too scared to say but felt deep within my being.  Like Luke Skywalker, deep down inside, I know this to be true.

 

With J-dude on my side, I was able to snap out of my embarrassment and scurried off like a squirrel with a peanut.  But this exchange taught me something about my true feelings on mobile games.  Which is to say that I think they are rather shallow.  And this reminds me of something else.  A short while I after the incident above, I started and finished a book called The Shallows.  The author was writing about the way the Internet literally changes the brain to think a different way.  There were a lot of comparisons to reading.  By reading, I mean reading books.  It's no secret that web surfers do a lot of reading, same with avid book lovers (such as myself).  Yet, the type of reading is totally different.  Rather than deep reading required by traditional paper bound works, the internet with it's myriad of links is more 'back and forth' and more fragmented in its presentation of information.  The author of The Shallows concluded that web lovers are more capable of multitasking, but the trade off is that they become unable to focus on any one thing.  Book readers are the opposite, featuring laserlike focusing abilities but perhaps not so much good at doing more than a couple things at once.  That is also why the book's title is what it is, because Internet use involves a more shallow way to use our brains and memories.  They are great at picking out info by skimming the top, but not so much when deeper research is required.

 

This is generalization, mind you.  There will always be people more scatterbrained than others, without or without the internet but this is one analogy.  And I find the same when it comes to mobile games versus traditional PC and console fare.  A game that is meant to be played four or five minutes at a time is the definition of shallow and the proof is in the game itself.  My girlfriend recently told me about a mobile game she played called "Candy Crush".  From what I've seen, it like a puzzle game, like Tetris.  The game itself comes with five lives and once those are gone, you cannot play anymore.  To keep playing, you must go on Facebook and ask other users for more lives.  Otherwise, you will have to wait for a specific amount of time to pass before gaining lives back.  So the game itself comes with a caveat that it cannot be played for a long stretch.  It was designed that way! 

 

I can't help but make the analogy that mobile is to consoles as the internet is to books.  One is the shallower experience than the other.  Yet, I don't think I can ever play mobile games with the same enjoyment as I do on my consoles.  There's no way I can ever enjoy games like Candy Crush.  But I'm a bit scared that, by closing off the mobile door this way, it might make me, too, a little bit shallow.

Gaming Update:

Ni no Kuni:  Done!  After over 50 hours!  Absolutely fantastic game.  I wish it wasn't so long, but now that it's done, I miss it.  Such light hearted fare comes along far too rarely these days.

DMC:  Started this again, from scratch, now that Ni no Kuni is done.

Fire Emblem Awakening:  Great game, and still working on it on my commutes and such.