Gaming Rant...Tangents beware~! Interactive Art?

Here I am, enjoying my morning cup of water... (Yes, screw coffee I drink water or highly sugarized kool-aid) When I remember the kick to the nads I recieved not so long ago from the announcement that my beloved, long awaited, game I had so anxiously been waiting for to be released on my PS3 was, in fact, going to be released no longer on solely the PS3, but the 360 as well.

Now I know some of you reading this are rolling your eyes and sighing with the fact that this has been heard to the point of nausea elsewhere, but I'm ranting so if you don't like it leave.

While it may very well be my own fault for placing such high hopes that Final Fantasy 13 would remain exclusive and give me a reason to feel justified in my purchase of a PS3 I still hold the bitterness that came with the announcement of the dual release. After dreaming of the extreme glory that would be achieved by FF13 coming to the PS3 and proving that it can, indeed, perform at greater specs than the 360 it hurt to hear it would not be so. Production of value must have slowed to a crawl when this was announced because they were already hitting things that the 360 might find hard to handle. This means that instead of delving further into the complexity that is allowed by the PS3 they purposely restricted themselves to the means of the lesser system.

There is no reason for more effort to be put forth to exemplify this point, when so much money can be saved by getting lazy and leaving the game as is. Granted this game promises to be great, but my point is that now that it is dual-platform...aside from making almost two completely different games FF13 will no longer be pushed to the limits and those that make it are most assuredly no longer trying to push it beyond the expectations of all it's predecesors... No more revolutionary ideas will be pushed to the brink, no more great ideas will be expanded upon. At least not with this game. Instead it will be as is, continue with what is present, and end with what exists. While this still may mean utter greatness, it means that what could have been will not be for even longer. Instead of pushing every limit beyond measure, it has been decided that it will be released with the as-is notation and that any and all revolutionary ideas will be saved for future things instead of being performed now.

FF13 promised to leave such a lasting impression that it would become a legend... like that of the greatest RPG of all time. Final Fantasy 7. Instead..., while it may still leave an impression, will no doubtedly be foreshadowed easily in the next release of games only months later. While previously being capable of being insurmountable for years it has now been left open to be overtaken by others so very soon of it's release. Perhaps it is too much to continue to expect a company that has produced legends to do so anymore...and maybe it is too much to expect it to be as mind blowing as I hope it to be, but the developers have always had the ability to produce things that even to this day have not entirely been eclipsed in grandeur.

I can just picture how exactly it all went down.

Bill Gates, tired of trying to barter with Square-Enix while being a cheap-skate realized that FF13 would help fuel the 360 sales and help further keep the PS3 down decided to bring an obnoxious proposal of money to make it a dual platform title. Casting all dignity away Square took the money with that crap-eating grin and announced to many's dismay that it would be dual released.

Some people may wonder why this irks me so...so let me delve into my reasoning for my upset.

Atm, (I say this because soon they will upgrade their system and this will be a mute point...) the PS3 blows the 360 out of the water in capability. Keyword, however.... being "Capability". Not to say that there haven't been games to somewhat prove the PS3's superiority in nearly every design category, but none has been able to definely purge all doubts in the general public's mind that the PS3 can indeed perform better.

The problem is that developers are paid to make a company money, no more no less. It is no longer about making a game that will wow for years to come due to depth, storyline, gameplay, and replay value. No longer about creating greatness, but about producing cookie cutter games that are polished to look different and forced upon the public. Now it's about making a game look pretty with some fancy visuals that are present in roughly 10% of the game and leave a lackluster, bland taste in the mouth of those who dish out their hard-earned cash to purchase.

Too many times has the general public been lured in by fancy visuals to have their virtual scrotum be kicked in by the realization that they just wasted $60 on a game they played a few days ago in the bargain bin at their local game store with enhanced graphics and a new feature or two. This comes from actually expecting greatness from those that have actually produced greatness.

Yes, visuals are nice. I like. Do I have to have to enjoy the game? No. Would I like it in addition to a game with great depth and enjoyment? Hell yes. But making a game with visuals alone to hold it up is utterly retarded.

I now have a new name for games of this sort... Interactive Art. Screw calling them games anymore if the true substance is solely in the artistic expression. I, for one, love art, but when I purchase a game that looks beautiful I also expect some kind of fun to usher forth from my purchase. I mean, if a person can put as much work and intelligence into making that game that unbelievably beautiful and complex.... Why the hell can't they add some depth somewhere else? Story? Gameplay itself? Game Mechanics? There is a reason there is a TEAM involved in the production of a game.

1 man may have the idea, but very few can come up with a great idea and bring to the table the best in all departments. That is where other individuals SHOULD come in.

This is how I see the good folks that made Assassin's Creed got together and talked.

(Note: Same Guy Proposing each thing to the board.)

"Here is my art for the game" Response: " Wow that's great I love it, let's do it!"

"Here is my concept for gameplay in the first chapters" Response: "Omg, amazing! Let's duplicate that throughout the entire game~!"

"Here is my concept for the mechanics" Response: "Yeah, that's awesome...Basically Prince of Persia with a few tweaks to make it our own...except...let's let them play with the best they can possibly expect from the get go and hope they are so wowed they actually waste hours upon hours of their lives re-achieving that same lackluster pinnacle."

As you can tell I was not wooed by the brilliance of Prin...I mean Assassin's Creed. Great game...if it didn't end 2 hours into itself. After you assassinate your first real target you have, in essence, beaten the game. You have done all there is to offer and you have done all there is to care about.

Copy and paste that same city, randomize it abit...place it 500 miles that way and recolor a few pieces and you have your next city. Rinse and repeat til the end of the game and you have Assassin's Creed's "amazing and revolutionary" construction.

I'll give it this much.... It was fun as hell...until I hit the brick wall of monotony... The worst part about this is that it is an ACTION game...I should be on the edge of my seat at all times and be enjoying the action that comes from it. Instead I enjoy the few hours I can of silently killing people and merging into the crowds until I get bored, happen to come across some folks I can listen in on to find out there is a guy standing 5 feet from me I need to assassinate. Congratulations.

I play RPG's... and when an Action game bores me...there is something wrong.

Anywho...to get away from that tangent and back to my original complaint... The PS3 is capable of much that 360 just cannot handle. It is just a fact of the construction of both systems. However, due to the fact that gaming has become so much more about the bottom line then actual substance games are created to the specs of a 360 capability and then copied and reformatted to work on a PS3. No enhancements of any kind... No splitting of the processors duties as to allow for smoother gameplay... No increase in detail as allowed by the more capable and numerous processors... No alternate modes of gameplay that could be added as a result of the larger memory storage of a Blue Ray disc.... Nothing.

Some might argue that this is good, because it doesn't force anyone to need to own both systems to enjoy a game etc etc. To those of us that have both systems and obtained them through means other than mommy and daddy, we would like to see some kind of exclusivity to warrant the existence of both systems. When there was Playstation and N64 you knew what kind of games were played on Nintendo's machine and what was played on Sony's.

Now, you are given the same game on two different platforms and aside from the draw of earning achievements for the 360 offer no real incentive to own any specific platform's version. I was a Diehard fan of the Playstation ever since the original, but now... I can't help but be drawn in by the megalith known as Microsoft's Xbox 360. The interface is more user friendly, I enjoy getting acknowledged for busting my ass by accomplishing something out of the ordinary, and I enjoy the ease of virtual navigation through the various services offered.

My PS3 has sat in front of my T.V. since I purchased it and has been turned on a max of 30 times in it's entire life. I occasionally dust it off and whimper quietly as I realize that my PS3 is just not going to offer me what I had hoped. I will play my 360 and enjoy it and remember that my PS3 has disapointed me time and time again and hope that someday I might be proud to own one.

I feel like the PS3 is that child that some people have that just can't achieve greatness no matter how hard they or everyone around them try to help them achieve. I'm a parent of this imaginary child and I will continue to hope that someday I will be proud of my PS3 and that someday I will have no regrets from throwing down such a large sum of cash for such a worthless construction of gaming equipment.

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Initial Rant/Introduction

Ello folks and welcome to our little blog of doom.

The basic premise is simple: me and some friends/colleagues decide to pick random game topics (Maybe even some not), hop on Gmail and chat our faces off. I then post said chat into this little space and let the rest become history.

We're open for other individuals to join or give suggestions for topics if wanted, but further information will be posted later.

Also, these topics are openly our opinions and have more then likely been ranted on previously. If you feel like whining about it, please take it elsewhere. Otherwise read and enjoy the carnage.


Today's Topic: Portable MMO Gaming

Participants - Kenneth (My Blood-Brother)
Jeremy (Me)
Dustin (My Roommate)


First we decided to actually try and come UP with a topic.

Kenneth: Video Game Topics - Cookie Cutter Games, Absolutely No Damn Point Games, "Wtf Were They Thinking?" Games, Same Game New Face Game, I Can't Believe They Published this Load of Crap Game, Didn't I Do This Yesterday Game, Why not make MMO's carry over to portable devices to further enhance the delve into them?

I'm sure my capitalizing was way off during the edit, and I don't care.

Jeremy: Whether it's a good idea or what?
Dustin: I say bad idea
Kenneth: I would love to have a limited version of FFXI on the DS or PSP that I could update back and forth and enjoy the smaller yet helpful things.
Jeremy: I think it would work as long as you executed it right. But that goes for anything of course.
Kenneth: I.E. Small quests, item management, intercity communication etc
Dustin: They would try to put to much in it....and ruin it
Jeremy: Sony and Sega tried this with their little memory card handhelds, although that's not technically the same thing. They were popular, but didn't really last.
Kenneth: Well they can't put to much they are limited by the fact that they are indeed portable
Jeremy: Then again, these things were nearly beneath 8 bit.
Kenneth: Yeah and you can't deny they were fun. The reason they failed is because the Dreamcast failed
Jeremy: Now where they've really been fucking up is cellphone games.
Kenneth: Dreamcast brought that idea down with it.
Yeah I agree
Like holy shit
wtf
Jeremy: Something like this should be done on a ACTUAL portable, like PSP or DS.
Kenneth: Exactly
Jeremy: Both even have online capabilities.
So it's natural.
Kenneth: My point exactly
Kenneth: Both have the ability to go online
Thus you can update them and transfer data both ways.
So you could go play WoW then have to go on a road trip and take your PSP and do some item management and small PSP exclusive quests or something.
Nothing omg big, but enough to keep you occupied.
Crafting maybe...
Like you could upload your shit to craft and then on the road could craft with them at your leisure.
And even have the small chat ability to chat with those in a "Linkshell" (Final Fantasy 11 term)
Jeremy: I was thinking things like mini-games that add to your game as you play with them in your free-time.
Kenneth: Kinda like this little chat thing just ported to a DS or PSP
That would be nice being able to talk to guild while on road
Jeremy: Yeah, like a messenger only via your portable.
Kenneth: Exactly
Dustin: I'll admit that for sure
Kenneth: I mean hell, for FFXI it would be godly to play little mini-games to maybe make a small amount of gil (Another FFXI term).
Dustin: I can see like mini quest just to kill time, would be fun.
Kenneth: Yeah I mean casino-esque type things and what not.
Jeremy: Lol, but don't you think this would probably ruin MMO players' already addictive lifestyle?
Kenneth: type environment. Nah, but it would definitely add to it, that's no lie.
Jeremy: Lol
You'd never escape!
TOO. MUCH. FUN.

Also, at this time of the day I had already had a Java Chiller with espresso. Fair warning. :D

Kenneth: But I mean how many times did you have absolutely nothing to do on a road trip and you were dieing of boredom
Jeremy: More times then I could count.
Kenneth: I mean it's an escape I'd pay for.
Jeremy: Ditto.
Kenneth: And no one is saying YOU MUST PLAY THE PORTABLE.
Jeremy: It's a side-advantage.
Kenneth: Exactly
Make it incentive enough to get but nothing too extravagant
Jeremy: But the question is could they find a company that wouldn't make the idea implode on itself?
Kenneth: I wouldn't mind a PS2 styled PSP version of FFXI with only access to cities and things of that such.
IF they found enough people interested they would...
The problem is the servers
They would have to add another thing to their list of systems to update
Adding to time in between updates and patches and slowing down the time to actually obtain said updates
Kenneth: I mean the problem with the portables is the compatibility and the time it would take to even develop
It's easy to say just downplay it and wa-lah!
They basically have to create a completely new game from the ground up that links to the current.
Jeremy: I don't think it'd take that long to implement, but it would be another hassle. That's usually why they fork it over to independent developers.
Kenneth: And that's with any game.
Jeremy: But that's when it all goes to shit.
Kenneth: Right and SE won't do that
Jeremy: Let's hope not.
Kenneth: I mean I don't know enough about WoW to say this, but I'm sure there are things that you could downscale and put on a portable that you would have no problem dealing with in a car while heading somewhere or waiting in a line somewhere. Or hell even when there was an update/maintenance etc going on.
I think what it truly boils down to though is people would like an offline version of MMO's and no one has really offered the constant swap well enough to be successful
Jeremy: I'm sure.
You'd just need to find someone capable.
Which I'm beginning to wonder if those exist anymore.
Kenneth: If there was an offline version of FFXI I'm sure a lot of people would play it.
Same with WoW
Dustin:: Offline I wouldn't like if its an online game I don't think it should be playable offline
Kenneth: How often does WoW update/patch?
Jeremy: More often then the sun burns out.
Dustin: Patch depends....Update every Tuesday
Kenneth: Ok let me rephrase...
How often are you unable to play due to maintenance.
Dustin: Bout 6 hours
Kenneth: Every Tuesday?
Dustin: Yeah
Kenneth: Damn O.o
Jeremy: He'd know better. Although I've always seen them do it at hours that not even I would be really doing.
Dustin: Usually early morning
Kenneth: Ok... an offline version would allow you do do limited things in the time they are doing patches/updates.
Then when it came back up you could then upload your status, etc.
Jeremy: Little offline/online tools and games to add to your gaming experience would be nifty.
Kenneth: Could be a hassle, but again it could have it's handiness
Dustin: I still don't agree with offline....I don't think an Online game should be able to be played offline
Jeremy: I'd rather be working on what could benefit my character rather then something else.
Kenneth: I have to say I would love to be able to do something small like craft and/or quest offline if need be.
I don't mean screw you guys I'm going offline, although I'm sure some would actually do that since it would be available.
Jeremy: And what exactly are you saying Dustin?
Jeremy: Explain y0.
Dustin: I just don't want to eliminate players simply cause you want a portable version
Jeremy: Eliminate players?
Dustin: Yeah, like the next big thing like playing without an expansion...
Kenneth: Not saying eliminate, just make available the offline version. What if your lights go out or something lol. Then you have a back up plan
Dustin: Lol thats a hardcore player
Kenneth: And hopefully your reason for not having electricity is not financially related lol
Do you have a portable device at all?
PSP
DS?
Jeremy: It could allow you to check on items, do some crafting, but it wouldn't let you like, actually hop on your player with no strings attached and quest like you do in-game.
Dustin: PSP
Jeremy: I gots a DS.
Kenneth: Any game you play on that is the same concept. Just you would take a game you've turned into a hobby i.e. MMO and added it to that system
Only difference.
Right
No EXPing etc
Jeremy: Unfortunately I don't think WoW would take the concept. But that's another topic.
Kenneth: Nothing to actually further your character to new hieghts really
Jeremy: Just something to kill time.
Kenneth: Not like ohh I'm going offline to become level 70 Hunter
Right
Jeremy: Lol, no kidding.
For games like WoW that'd almost be cheating.
Dustin: Yeah definitely on the server we are playing.
Jeremy: Lmao
PvP for the fail.
Dustin: No.
Jeremy: I'm kidding. Jeeze.

Just so you know, Dustin is the pro-WoW player and Kenneth is pro-FFXI. I bounce between the two when I feel like it, but have been more into WoW as of recent.

Kenneth: Just simple crafting/small questing/ item management
Kinda like a PDA for MMO
Kenneth: Brb bio break :P
Jeremy: Wish I could have struck THAT from the record.
For those of you not versed in FFXI, that's short for, "I'm going to use the facilities."
Porcelain God, restroom, bano...
Kenneth: lol
Jeremy: Indeed.
Jeremy: Anything else we need to touch base on with the portables? I think we have the general idea.
Kenneth: Sounds good to me, but I would love to hear more detailed reasoning on the offside of it.
Jeremy: Concerning what?
Why it would be bad?
Kenneth: The offside of portable offline MMO
Yeah I mean there's more argument towards then against.
Jeremy: Agreed. Kinda uneven.
Ok, VERY uneven.
Kenneth: More "Don't Like" to (10 Pages long Like it), lol
Jeremy: Hm..
-Is thinking-
...Anyone able to help me out here, cause I can't think of much, lol.
Kenneth: Well I would hope Dustin could elaborate a bit more on his side of it cause I am for it lol. But I guess I could try and be objective... I did, however, place in some negative sides to it with my arguments, but then backed them up with reasoning as to why it's otay.
Dustin: I cant think of much more either
Jeremy: Also there's the whole lifestyle effecting part.
But still, more a personal dilemma as per usual.
Kenneth: But that truly boils down to the individual.
Dustin: I mean bliz (Blizzard) Would never do it simply cause they are all about the "Casual Player"
Jeremy: Freaks.
But I agree with them.
Kenneth: If a person plays on a portable device all we are suggesting is placing the MMO they play at home to be available in miniature fashion to that portable device.
Jeremy: Just for that added fun-factor on the go.
Kenneth: Nothing extravagant, just enough lol
Right,.
Not groundbreaking, but substantial.
Jeremy: Who needs Pokemon? I HAVE GIL/GOLD TO MAKE!
-Kicks on PSP-
If you need me I'll be in the basement. <3>Kenneth: lol
Ah...that brings to mind the idea of things that have the potential to be godly as MMO. Most likely would not though.
But we only have 20min til Tema must sign off lol.
Jeremy: Temagori, residential working man.
Dustin: I'll have to try FF (Final Fantasy) soon
Jeremy: Don't do it man!
You don't have the POWAH.
Kenneth: lol It is very daunting. There is a learning curve.
No doubt.
Jeremy: I tried balancing both and I failed verily.
Kenneth: For a beginner that is.
Jeremy: But it has a lot of common ground.
Kenneth: Really helps if you have RL friends to help you over those Early Level, Early Mission/Quest Humps.
Jeremy: You know, instances/dungeons, Bosses, events, yadda yadda.
Nearly impossible to stand for FFXI in my opinion if you don't have someone patting your back.
Otherwise you might contemplate suicide after killing 12,000 bunnies.
And getting killed by half of them.
Kenneth: I will say though FFXI has had some of the best organized things to date.
Kenneth: Their AH system is phenomenally user friendly and helpful.
Jeremy: No they didn't, shut up.
Their idea of organizing is kicking puppies.
AH's scare me though. WoW and FFXI alike.
Kenneth: how so?
Jeremy: Because you can get some scary-ass economy dips on the stupidest crap.
See this stick? It's 5k.
Some moron prices it for 40k.
It sells.
WHY?!
It's just frightening to see the economy at work.
Shifts can happen at the drop of a hat.
Dustin: Well you overprice things too
Jeremy: That's what's scary.
People will DO it.
And then the other idiots actually buy it!
Dustin: Yep thats how people make money
Jeremy: Fricking 12 year olds..
Dustin: Yep that and probably buying gold, so what?
Jeremy: Goldsellers.
Dustin: You get it
Jeremy: Ugh.
Anyway, Ken, you doze off?
Don't make me get the stick.
Dustin: He will
Jeremy: Srsly.
And it'll have nails and everything.
And I'll coat those nails with salt.
....I think he's probably getting ready to head out so I'll call this an END.
Kenneth: boo
You can't really bitch about the economy really..
I mean it's just like ours
Someone can buy a stick of gum for 50c and then sell it on eBay because Joe Ripken touched it for thousands.
Jeremy: For those of you who have read this blog I hope you've enjoyed it. If you would like to participate or have any suggestions for more topics, please e-mail me (Faceless.Otaku@Gmail.com) or Kenneth (Temagori@Gmail.com) with your suggestions. Thanks for your attention and happy gaming.

That about does it. Just so you folks know I realize a format change is going to have to be done with a lot of this, but I'm going to edit as we go along. So I'm sorry for the confusion in advance.

Later round people.