November 2006

Why Sony will not be Destroyed
Submitted Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 3:19:29 AM by Klaitu

You know what really grinds my gears?

Calamity Whiners. That's what.

With the release and then immediate unavailability of the Playstation 3, people are freaking out about Sony. A lot of people are, but one in particular I will single out: a guy I work with. I shall henceforth refer to this guy as "The Guy" for lack of a better name.

The Guy predicts that the 360 will become the worldwide dominant console. He predicts the Wii will be second, and the PS3 will be a distant third.

His reasoning for this prediction? The PS3 is expensive, and there aren't very many of them. Also, the dual pricing spread confuses consumers.

This argument is, quite simply, ridiculous, and I shall now destroy it. Consider the following:

The 360 came out last year with a reported 400,000 units in North America. They were instantly bought up by avid consumers. The PS3 came out with the same figure-- 400,000 units, and all of them were snatched up, just like the 360.

In Japan, however, the 360 did not sell out instantly.. it didn't even sell out of the stock at it's launch party. The PS3, however, did.

Both of these things happened, despite the fact that both versions of the PS3 are more expensive than the 360.

A year from now, many more people will have their very own PS3, and the limited availability of launch will no longer matter.

You may recall the launch of the PS2, where exactly the same thing happened. Not enough stock, everyone bought them, and they went on ebay for thousands. PS2 went on to become the world's most popular console, so obviously launch production does not make or break a console.

Neither does a Dual-version launch. The NES was released in two flavors.. one with Robot, and one sans robot. NES went on to dominate the 8 bit console war.

Another argument The Guy brought up was that PS3 lost some exclusive titles.. and he's right, most notably Grand Theft Auto. Exclusives are only part of the equation, though.. the quality of a port also affects its popularity.

But all this hemming and hawing over games, it misses the true intention of Sony's purpose. A purpose that most gamers seem to gloss over: Blu-Ray.

Sony's purpose in making the PS3 with Blu-Ray is to make the format dominant. Blu-Ray discs are rare, and Blu-Ray players run $1000 and up because production of them has not been ramped up. Sony is banking on the PS3 to be at least popular enough to streamline production of blu-ray components, making not only the PS3 cheaper, but also other blu-ray components. The PS3 is, after all, also a Blu-ray disc player.. the cheapest one on the market, nearly 400 bucks cheaper than a standalone player.

Sony is so sure they can make it the dominant format that they lose an estimated $200 per playstation on parts alone. You just don't gamble that kind of money unless you're sure you're going to win. After all, that means Sony just ate $80,000,000 on launch day.

Microsoft, on the other hand, built a Next-gen console with an old-gen storage medium. The 360 has to use DVD's for games, that's 1/5th the capacity of a blu-ray disc. a DVD can't even hold a useful length of High-Definition video.. and it's true the 360 has a HD-DVD addon, but it only plays movies, and it only plays movies in HD if you happen to have a VGA connection to your TV. 360 does not support HDMI.

So, it's not just the games that Sony is banking on, they're after the entire movie market. If blu-ray is made the dominant format, Sony stands to earn a tidy sum, much like Microsoft does with it's dominant Operating System. Even if the PS3 were to not outsell the 360, so long as Sony sells enough of them, they still win.

As for the Wii, you'll notice I haven't mentioned it much. That's because the Wii is really a non-issue. The Wii appeals to a completely different market than the 360 or the PS3. It will sell well because people will buy a Wii AND a 360, or a Wii AND a Ps3. The Wii is not a console you want to standalone.

In the end, I'll probably end up buying a 360 and a PS3. There's lots of great games coming out for both of them. And anyways, if you have both, you can't miss a thing, unless you like Zelda.. or Mario.

Final Fantasy XII
Submitted Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 2:43:49 AM by Klaitu

This is the one that everyone's been waiting for. Square made Final Fantasy 11 a MMORPG, and then there was Final Fantasy X-2, which was more of a sequel than a whole other game. Fans everywhere were clamoring for a brand new numbered Final Fantasy.


This particular Final Fantasy has the main character caught up in a much larger web of events. Unlike the previous stories, there is no main romantic interest, and many times the exact objective of the game isn't quite so defined as it usually is.

The Good:
- For a PS2 game, it looks great. No Next-gen graphics here, but top notch old-gen stuff. FMV's are crisp and clear.

- Sound quality and voice acting are top notch. In fact, the game was produced in a THX certified facility.

- The new style of gameplay is more akin to what you might expect in an mmo, but is much simpler. Your party-mates are not complete idiots like most cases in a MMO. (I'm looking at you FF11)

- Elimination of Random Battles. Random battles have and always will suck. Their elimination alone makes this game worthy of note.

- If you casually play (that is, don't collect every single item, weapon, and all that) the game clocks in at around 80 hours.. maybe a tad less. That's pretty hefty for a Final Fantasy game, which usually comes in around 40 to 60.

The Bad:
- The game has a serious flaw where you can set your gambits and let the game play itself while you go off to work, sleep, or wherever. Come back to level 99 characters and a full license board.

- The license board system lets you develop your characters however you want them. That much is good, but at the end of the game, each character has a complete license board, which means all the characters are more or less identical.

- There is little difference between the weapons. Katana, axe, greatsword.. all work just fine for baddie-killing. Guns are neat, but their special use is limited, and the ammunition is hard to find.

- The bazaar system is just screwy. FF12 has a loot system where you sell otherwise useless items and depending on the combination of stuff you sell at once, it unlocks seemingly random, powerful items for you to use. This is the only way to get the ultimate weapons.

- This Final Fantasy has a lot more gameplay and a lot less story. Most of my game time was spent walking hundreds of miles attempting to get from one story point to another. There are sidequests, but many of the rewards for them fall flat.

- The story itself is pretty good, albeit it seems a bit like Star-Wars on a planet.. I guess you might call it Air-Wars.. especially near the end. The end of the story evokes images of the Death Star threatening poor, defenseless inhabitants.

The Bottom Line:

This game is worth buying, and is definately noteworthy. Don't go into it expecting anything like the others in the series. It doesn't feel very Final Fantasy-ish. The ending is not satisfying at all (there's not even an after-the-credits video snippet like FF7-x2).

If you've got the funds, buy this game. If you want to wait for the greatest hits, try Dragon Quest 8 instead.

Overall Score 8 of 10

Those Wacky Amazonians
Submitted Monday, November 20, 2006 - 5:05:58 PM by Klaitu

You know, I never much paid attention to customer reviews on Amazon.com, but one caught my eye the other day, and ever since I've been reading them, because there's always some joker in there posting what I would call "awesome" reviews.

Here's one for the playstation 3:

How could Sony betray me like this?!? I waited in line for three months--yes, I started the very first line for the PS3 way before anyone else. I endured the elements, the snide comments, and unemployment (I was fired from my job after the first week) because I wanted to be the very first person to play what I imagined would be the salvation to all my dearest dreams. Rumor had it that playing a videogame on the PS3 would be like injecting heroin directly into your eyeball. I believed the hype and worshipped Sony as my god.

Finally, with nearly every credit card maxed out and two debt consolidation plans under my belt, the great day arrived and I fought my way into the store to get my hands on this wonder console. Leaving the store I did a little victory dance and then drove up and down the parking lot taunting those who did not get a PS3. Then it was off to home to play this little beauty.

I hooked everything up while my wife and children watched and applauded at my direction. It was time to play the first game! After two hours I noticed that waves of heat were pouring off the console, so I told my daughter to hold it up in the air in front of a fan while I continued playing, waiting for the opiate-like ecstacy that was soon to overwhelm me after I shot to death another video game enemy. Things went find for awhile; an hour later the box began whistling and my daughter complained that it was getting too hot to hold. I figured this was just what they called "burning in" and continued playing.

Then, at the four hour mark, my daughter began complaining of blisters and within fifteen minutes the entire console burst into flames, the plastic casing scorching and bubbling as I rushed to complete the level. But I was too late, and my precious daughter burned to death. Racked with sadness at not being able to save my game, I immediately called my lawyer to review my options for a massive lawsuit.

I am sure we all expected a few "bugs" and "glitches" and "inconveniences", but that does not excuse Sony for selling what appears to be a blazing DEATH TRAP.

Caveat emptor!

Just the Basics
Submitted Tuesday, November 7, 2006 - 4:04:12 PM by Klaitu

Well, my time is limited, but I wanted to throw in an update real quick with some random and very basic thoughts.

- FF12 is coming along nicely, It's pretty fun, but different than what you might expect. Review's still comin.

- Guitar Hero 2 is on the way, It's currently in Hodgkins, Illinois, but it should be here tomorrow.

- Today is election day for most United States folks. Could mean a house change in the senate, could mean a governor change in Oklahoma. I guess we'll find out later.

- I recently saw the first 6 minutes of the Tenacious D movie over on YouTube. I found it to be somewhat clever. Go check it out if you're of the mind to.

- Aqua Teen Hunger Force came out with a movie. It looks even more random than normal, which for me isn't that good a thing. There's a point where things become too random, and thus pointless.

- PS3's coming around on the 17th, Wii a week later. No doubt their shortages will be highlighted by the news. What's up with those freaky commercials anyway?

Quick Update
Submitted Sunday, November 5, 2006 - 5:17:37 PM by Klaitu

Whoop, Snow's here! Hoorah!

I'm not dead, I've just been slayed by Final Fantasy 12.. pretty good so far, I got a review coming.. sometime. Also, Guitar Hero II is on it's way soon.

For now, enjoy the snow!