Atari Master

Unfortunately, I'm on dial up. And the thought of updating my firmware scares the piss out of me because I'm afraid to brick my system.

I heard that Nintendo said the DVD systems won't be released here afterall. You'll have to look to make sure I'm right, though.

I think it's a combination of a lot of things. If Nintendo plays it's cards right, they'll do great this generation.

Actually, I think that gamespot reported that the Nintendo fans in NYC seemed a lot friendlier and less "gangsta" then the people who were camping the PS3. They were all playing their DSes, and handing out blankets, etc. Really interesting, I have to say... I could see Jack Thompson jumping on that...

I hear they actually may be getting more this week.

Supposedly, the outcome of people for the Wii was waaay larger than expected. I'm hearing reports of tons of stores being sold out, etc. Crazy stuff.

Hmm... You may be on to something. Someone should put it into a disc, or something.

My local Wal-Mart has 10. There's quite a few people camped out for it right now.

How can one consume so much bullshit?

I think that's because the health warnings will be on the start up, sort of like DS games.

I'm going to try to get one at midnight on Saturday.

You're not married, are you? Because comments like that could end your marriage real quick. Thats why i'm not married Hahaha, I knew it!

I do agree with this. They can spin it however they want, but the truth is *they* needed a hail mary, not the industry. They basically just gave up trying to compete on the same playing field. This isn't about broadening the industry, it's about them searching for any way they can to broaden their own share of it. I sort of agree. I think there will always be a market for Nintendo 1st party games. The gamecube wasn't a failure, it just wasn't as successfull as the PS2. I personally am glad that Nintendo went this route. The last thing the world needs is another company making WW2 shooters and the like. I think this generation of games is going to be great because you are going to have the availability of 2 distinctivley different platforms, both of which should be entertaining. IMHO you are going to get the same general experience on a 360 or a PS3. Then you get something totally different from the Wii. Anyone that plays games will have plenty of room for both. All we want is fun games. Now there are 2 different consoles to get them on. I agree with you 100%. The market needs something fresh. Seriously, if Nintendo had gone the same rout as it's competition, I think we would have lost more gamers than gained. The last 2 generations have pretty much been the same thing, but prettier. Hopefully the Wii can spice things up a bit.

Moms don't necessarily buy the systems, but they are usually the guardian of the bank account. As just about any married man can tell you, you need permission from the lady of the house before you make a major purchase. So making the system appeal to "mom" is a good way of bypassing that little problem. Not exactly, only if your a "yes, dear" kinda guy. You'd be surprised. The guy makes the money, the woman spends it. It's pretty much how it goes.

I can see the logic behind it, actually. If you're going to market to older adults, then you need something that doesn't have a lot of wires, buttons, etc. You need simplicity. And moms are usually the ones to buy their kids these game systems. So I can really see the reasons. It also helps gamers, too.

I heard someone say that gasoline takes it off.

I like lots of games, excite truck isn't one of them, motor storm is. I disagree. You hate everything. ADMIT IT!

Saturn sounds like a graphics whore. Then again, he seems to hate everything.

I think Front Mission is coming out for the DS. It's the mechs game from Squaresoft, isn't it?

I think Gabriel has been spending to much time in Gamespot's System Wars forum. I personally didn't like handheld gaming much before the DS. I had Golden Sun, and stuff, but that was about it. With the DS, though. I own about 12 DS games total. I also plan to get a lot more. D: So yeah, this competition has made the quality of games go waaay up for me. I'm loving it.

He also likes the direction the Wii is headed in.

So far, Castlevania has been the only game I'm having difficulty getting. I've seen Phoenix Wright, etc around. I play and collect DS titles. It's the first system I've played regularly in years. So far I have... 1. Animal Crossing: Wild World 2. Advance Wars: Dual Strike 3. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time 4. Super Mario 64 DS 5. NEW Super Mario Bros 6. Mario Kart DS 7. Star Fox Command 8. Megaman 5 Battle Network 9. Brain Age 10. Megaman ZX 11. Mario Vs. Donkey Kong 2 12. Trauma Center: Under the Knife Final Fantasy III is coming up, which for $40 will be another blow to my wallet.

Welcome to Final Fantasy. The series has never made any secret of its influences, one of the biggest of which is Star Wars. It doesn't sound like you've yet found the characters in FFXII named Biggs and Wedge (neither have I), but no doubt they're in there - they're in every FF game. Same with airships. Every FF since I think FF2 has prominently featured airships. As for technology, I don't think it really played a big part in the early games, but since somewhere around FF4 or so, the world has always been a mixture of advanced technology and ancient magic. It's part of what separates FF from other fantasy series. (Some people don't like it, but there are plenty of other "pure" fantasy games to satisfy those people.) And it's *very* Japanese - Japan itself is the same mix of ultra-new and ancient. Anyway I also thought the first cinematic was like watching the end of Episode I. The hand to hand combat stuff doesn't make me think so much of Gladiator, though, and its style is actually a little new for the "proper" FF series. The producer of FFXII previously worked on FF: Tactics, so it has that European influence that most other FF's have lacked. The FF series has in the past relied a lot more on Asian style hand to hand combat (which I think I prefer, but whatever - I'm not against changing it up once in a while). So far I'm not into the battle system. It's sort of a hybrid between a turn-based and real-time battle system and so far (and I'm only about 2 hours in) it feels like the worst of both worlds. If I have to wait for my attack to take place anyway, I really would rather just have a separate "battle stage" where everybody's standing around taking turns, like every other FF game. Because then it's just all about the strategy. The FFXII system seems to want you to forget about strategy in the heat of battle (instead relying on gambits you set up ahead of time) and it ends up just being you running around making sure you've got the high ground. Everybody says it gets better later, but so far I'm not that into it. No way around that, really. FFVII had some areas without walls and you could literally get so lost that you couldn't find your way back. You'd have to just reload a saved game. Of course, the only way to do that at all is to have a basically flat, featureless area. Otherwise you're asking developers to create objects and textures for places only a few people might ever go. (Unless you just repeat stuff, but that's really no better than going featureless.) Also, there's only so much storage space on a DVD. There may be more freedom in the world in FFXIII on the PS3; kinda doubt it though. There's nothing in FF that doesn't do *anything*. You just haven't figured out how to apply the license yet, or gotten the weapon/accessory you need to use it. You can't make a judgement on any FF game until the end. They are like really good books; they don't always immediately draw you in (and FFXII hasn't grabbed me yet) but often by the end you'll find you feel almost empty when it's over. The best FF games almost become a part of your life while you're playing them. And not in the EQ way, where you feel like your character is an extension of yourself; FF always presents itself as a narrative, so it's a sort of parallel world you feel you're following. I like that better than EQ, which always feels more like a second job than anything fun. Consider the fact that most FF games take 100+ hours to finish even close to fully. To finish *all* the side quests (and this has become unrealistic on the past couple FF's, all of which have some ludicrous time sinks for side quests) would take 200+ hours. So any way you slice it, you've still got a ways to go. It is possible to blast through most FF games in 40-50 hours, but that's not the most fun way to do it. Well, some of us do One thing about FF games is that since around FF8, they've taken a lot of influence from real-world Japanese street fashions and hair styles. I guess it helps ground them in reality for the Japanese, and probably helps attract some female gamers there too. FFXII is a lot more European but even in the two hours I've been playing, I've seen a lot of styles similar to some of the popular styles in Japan right now. The whole thing with the high boots/stockings and the short mini-skirts (like Penelo wears) is *really* popular in Japan right now. I think Kumi Koda started the trend (and she was a big part of FFX too, so that all ties back together). I noticed the Star Wars feel right off the bat, and I'm not even a Star Wars fan! The battle system is getting better now. It's not in the "strategic" mark yet, but I still have a ton to go before I unlock it all. As for freedom. I didn't mean freedom where you get lost. I meant more like Zelda: OOT, where you could run around and explore. I think FFVI (the one I emulated) was the same way. You could run around and really explore the map, getting lost sometimes.

Okay, so to begin I've really never played a Final Fantasy game. Well, I did for a short time on an emulator (VI), but emulators just aren't the same. Anyway, I decided that XII would be a nice one to try out, since it's getting pretty good reviews and whatnot. And I figured some would find it interesting to hear the opinion of a non-FF fan on the game, so I went out and rented it today. I have to say that the cinimatic in the beginning made me quite sad. Not that it was a bad cinimatic, on the contrary, it was beautiful. But the story did touch me a little bit, and I felt bad for the princess who lost her husband. Now, one thing caught me, and I'm wondering if anyone else felt the same. The cinimatic, with it's ships, voice acting, etc, sort of made it feel like a mix between Star Wars: Episode I, and the movie Gladiator. This isn't a bad thing, just not what I expected. I suppose I expected more of a magical, fantasy tale rather than a Star Wars, Gladiator with technology and ships kind of story. Again, this isn't bad, just isn't what I expected. I've only played for a few minutes, but I got through the first battle and I'm now playing Vaan. The battle system is different. Normally when I think Final Fantasy, I think of the old battle systems from the SNES RPGs that Square made. This apparently uses a system where you sort of pause, choose your attack, and wait for him to swing. Not bad really, it adds more action to the game. I can't say I don't miss the old school battle system, though. Continued... Okay, so I'm out doing an errand right now in the desert. A buddy of mine played the game and told me a few things about it. So basically, right now I'm chain killing wolves for experience and money. Not exactly the most fun thing on the planet, really. Anyway, the desert is a pretty nice place. One thing that irks me, though, is the invisible walls that sometimes seem kind of random. I always hated those walls, and this game really could have done without them. It's not game breaking, but it would have given a better sense of freedom, in my opinion. Continued... I'm doing another errand for some creepy old guy. Now I seem to have the gambit system. I have to give them credit for not dropping everything on me at once, but easing me in. That's always the best way to go. So far I've bought two licensed abilities for Vaan. Problem is, one doesn't seem to do anything. Geeze, I'm hoping I don't have a limit or something, because mistakes could ruin me if it does. Continued... Okay, so I've put a few more hours into it. Quite an adventure so far. I've unlocked the gambit system, and so far (so far) it's kind of like a group in EverQuest. You can set it to different HP percentages, and when you hit it, a partner can heal you, etc. I'm now in the dungeons, along with an english fellow, a bitchy girl, a bitchy RABBIT girl, and myself. I need some sleep, though. Continued... Okay, so I woke up, ate, and started playing again. I'm trying to get the hang of everything, which may take a while. So far, the game is pretty good. It's not the end all of games like many people make it out to be, but so far it's a good story based game, with good combat, etc. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I fought he most awesome flaming horse last night. Very cool stuff. Continued... According to my memory card I've been playing for four hours. Feels a lot longer than that, but I suppose I explored quite a bit. Right now I've escaped the dungeon, and I'm now fighting electric spiders, or "mimics." The dungeon was very pretty when it lit up. One complaint I do have is the outfits of some of the female characters. Don't get me wrong, I like sexy too, but a girl that joined my group earlier had a skirt that I could probably wrap around my forehead as a banner. Seriously, if a warrior is a warrior, she or he should have leather armor at LEAST. I don't want to see every piece of skin in a fantasy game. And God have mercy on the bunny girl. She's running around in a thong. I bet it's drafty... More to come as I get further through!

I'd say the competition is a great thing. Nintendo hasn't had me hooked on a handheld since... Ever...