Playstation 2, where are you? - February 24th, 2000 - Drew Cosner
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of the participants and the moderator, and do not neccessarily reflect those of the GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. During the course of reading, this column may attempt to hump your leg. Don't say we didn't warn you.
I heard somebody here wanted to rock.
| Today's cannon fodder |
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This has to be at least my fourth letter I've sent to this letters section in
the last month, which will of course be left unprinted. Obviously my opinions
are not as "worthy" to be printed on this letters section as Ian P's rantings
about casinos or something (he does send in intelligent letters...but those
aren't the only letters you've printed by him) or any other kid typing
worthless crap that's weird and wacky. Kinda reminds me of Game Players
lettes section with their snotty attitude that made fun of anyone who said
anything intelligent and rewarded mindless stupidity. A shame since the
magazine itself was actually the best out there at the time.
Afraid of games getting mainstream? Why? Video games (especially the best of
them) are an art form that should be appreciated for what it is: an art. Game
designers pour their heart out making videogames, and hearing their art being
called "murder teachers" and "mindless fads" or "something a child should be
less exposed to" by ignorant "experts" who haven't the slightest idea on the
possibilities a videogame can offer has got to be insulting. I mean, can you
honestly say TV or movies haven't at least been a part of our lives? I mean,
they ARE what are talked about during water cooler chats. Wouldn't it be
great if videogames could have that same impact on so many lives?
And fear of dumbing down for mainstream is unnecessary. Look at the movies.
Yes there are some dumbed down movies, but for every dumb movie there is a
great one. For every Wild Wild West is the smart The Matrix. For every overly
melodramtic Titanic there is a beautiful American Beauty. For every mindless
Teaching Mrs. Tingle there is the brilliant The Sixth Sense. And these smart
movies DO make money. American Beauty made $75 million, the Matrix made at
least $175 million, and The Sixth Sense is the second top grossing film of
1999. The public can easy accept so-called "complex" games. Especially when
the kids and teens that play games now grow up.
We shouldn't fear this. We should embrace it.
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There are really very few letters then genuinely make me irate. I enjoy it when people disagree with me over some sort of matter. I like insulting flamers. I even get a kick out of mindless drivel, assuming, of course, that it's done in a humorous manner. But I can't stand letters from people whining to me about the fact that they've sent in [insert some number here] letters, none of which have printed, despite the fact that I printed some letter or letters from [insert Double Agent patron's name here].
First of all, the volume of letters that you send me makes absolutely no difference. You can send me 18 letters a day, and if none of them grab my attention for whatever reasons, I'm not going to print any of them. It's really quite simple. And more importantly, there's not exactly some kind of scientific algorithm that I employ to determine what will be printed and what will not. I look through the day's email, and print whatever amuses or intrigues me.
But all of that is beside the point. You have dared to mock Game Players' old letters section. That was my absolute favorite part of the magazine back in the day. It was bizarre, it was inane, and it was hilarious. I bet you're one of the people who enjoyed the initial transition to "Ultra" Game Players, and applauded the choice to reformat and become the ill-fated Game Buyer's. Damn you. I'm so angry now that I won't even bother to address the admittedly intelligent latter half of your letter. Well, that and the fact that I'm really lazy. Moving on.
| That's my kind of intro |
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Who the hell cares?
I mean really. I'm as big a fan of the playstation as the next guy, provided
the next guy likes the playstation plenty fine and doesn't much care what
festivals they hold in its honour, but the Playstation 2000 festival is just
beyond me.
Anyways,
-Ryan
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Yeah, I have to admit that I wasn't particularly enraptured by the Playstation festival. The only game I'm really that interested in is Tekken Tag Tournament, and nothing new regarding it was shown. Well, that and the fact that I'm a Nintendo whore.
| Sounds good |
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Drew,
I personally think that things are looking pretty good.
-Mikey B.
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Well okay then.
| I'm kind of stupid that way |
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I miss you, Drew Cosner!
Nothing in the Playstation Festival looks really interesting, cept maybe
Kessen. Then again I have become so jaded and cynical that nothing short
of perfection for a low price would move me.
~Ian P.
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I used to think the same way. Then I discovered a service wherein your games are delivered to your doorstep by beautiful, naked women. Now I own crap like all of those THQ N64 wrestling titles.
| Nice try |
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The sheer power of the scientific mastery of Final Fantasy is of a numeral quantitude of quadroplastic intelligence. The strength of the mighty steed that Katie Holmes killed Squall when he realized that Cher was ugly and also found out that HQ was really your mom. Now, we must go forward and realize that what time is it? WHAT TIME IS IT? WERE YOU LISTENING?! I guess not. And so, we must realize that it is all about Joe Pesci. And the flies. And your mom. And my mom. And the benjamins. And and and and and. What's and mean? Who the hell knows. I sure don't. That's why there's citra! The soda with the curiously crisp taste! Furthermore, the secret to happiness is-
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I created the Corner of Incoherence to showcase the genuinely screwed up letters I receive on a nearly-daily basis. See, the best incoherent letters are the ones that are unintentional, or convey a complete lack of logical coherency due to the writer. Not ones that were intended to be unusual. It just doesn't work as well. Sorry to pick you out, but this subject needed to be addressed.
| Let's be fair |
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Drew,
i can't say in good conscious that the Playstation Festival has lifted my
expectations of the Playstation 2. i mean, sure the games that they had on
display sure do look nice but for the majority they seem to be all flash and
no substance (Fantavision) or just a nice looking rehash of an existing game
(GT 2000, Ridge Racer V, Tekken) - where are all the innovative titles that
are supposed to blow our minds and make us really want the PS2. there's
Kessen, and it's looking good but can Koei make a playable strategy game
(Koei is the shit when it comes to detailed strategy games with enough depth
to drown in, but i wouldn't call them playable). there's Dark Cloud, but
it's entering the Shen Mu of delays along with The Bouncer .. now those are
the titles that i am looking forward to - those that push the envelope, not
a mere rehash of an existing Playstation game that has phenomenal graphics.
sure, it seems that there will be the PS2 fair share of innovative titles
(if they ever get released) but the Playstation Festival just showed me that
the launch titles might have one up on the Japanese Dreamcast launch titles,
but that's not saying much.
-Joseph Elder
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I'd tend to agree. But in all fairness, the original PSX had a handful of fighting and racing games, with a flight game and a few other random titles thrown into the mix as its launch lineup. And in the end, it wound up being the RPG powerhouse. So I'm not going to fret just yet. It does make me wonder why people get all uptight when Nintendo's console comes out a little later than the rest. It's not like most people run out and buy the latest consoles the minute they're released. Sure, there are some hardcore gamers who do this, but the vast majority of people like to wait a while and see where the pieces fall before making a decision. You get to enjoy all of the great games that fully utilize your existing console's power this way, plus you're assuring yourself that your 200+ dollar investment will be a sound one for the next several years. And stuff.
| A little help |
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Drew-
In answer to Algus:
Every combat round a character will regenerate a certain amount of WP and
SP. This amount varies from character to character and is somewhat dependant on
the accessories equipped - the exact number is found in the ( ) next to the
current WP and SP stats. So if Wil has WP 35/50 (3), then he currently has 35
out of 50 WP, and every round he fights the 35 WP will increase by 3. However,
if he uses some Art that consumes WP, this increase will go into using the Art.
For example, if he uses Roll Beat (2 WP) his total WP will only be 36, or if he
uses Bone Crush (4 WP) his total WP will be 34.
Any character can equip nearly any Art, but you can only use certain
elemental Arts if you have a weapon or accessory of that type. Wil can equip
Delta Petra, but since it's a stone/wood spell he needs a stone item and a wood
item to use it, such as an Oak staff and a Rock axe. If he doesn't have these
the spell will be grayed out.
SF2's battle system is fairly unique, and you have to dig through the manual
to really get it. But it's a lot of fun when you catch on, keep at it.
-coldjones
PS - I think the game's great, in the mid 8's to low 9's range. It feels a
lot like FFT in spirit, if not in gameplay. But most of the reviews I've seen
have been putting it in the 6 to 7 range. What's up with that?
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There you go, Mister Algus. I certainly hope you found that useful.
| Wowing them all |
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Hey Drew,
I thought that the recent PS fest seemed like a bit of a disappointment.
I can't say for sure since I wasn't there (obviously), but I get the
impression that Sony would've been better of if they had pushed back the
release date of the console. Sure, the graphical prowess wowed everyone,
but there didn't seem to be all that many cool games on offer.
Admittedly, when the PS was launched there were also only a handful of
really good games, but, Sony is now the big cheese, and I didn't see
anything that would make me get my thermos out to go and stand in line
already. From what I've read a lot of the games seemed unpolished, and
with only a couple of weeks to go until the launch you'd think that
there would've been more.
And another thing. How many new games were on show? I don't think that
puzzle games are going to sell the system. We've been seeing shots of
Ridge Racer V, Street Fighter EX3 (or whatever the hell the latest
incarnation is called) and Tekken Tag for ages now. Where are the new
games to surprise us all? I'm starting to fear the possibility that
Sony's going to drop the ball on this one. Hopefully they'll prove me
wrong.
-Alex
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Personally, I forsee the upcoming console race coming down between Nintendo and Sony once again. Sony has everybody and their uncle signed up and working on some title; most companies are just being close-fisted at the moment because they're implementing creative uses of the PS2's power, and they're paranoid about these innovations being ripped off by other developers. You know how that goes.
| Playing with power is a great way to poke your eye out |
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You speak about the bias in Nintendo Power. Not that I think NP is just the
greatest gaming magazine, but I have to say I am constantly surprised at the
low scores the games receive in the Now Playing section. If NP is biased,
presumably for and not against Nintendo games, then all those games must
_really_ suck..
-al
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Yeah, I've noticed that Nintendo Power seems to give everything a relatively low or mediocre score ever since people accused them of being biased a while back. Even Zelda didn't get a perfect rating. I still don't put much faith in their reviews, however, since this seems to be a counter-reaction to the accusations previously mentioned. Plus they give practically everything a middle-range score, and I've yet to see them lay into a truly crappy title.
| Non-event |
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Playstation Festival = non-event
I already knew about all the games they showed
-Lonely Swedish
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And that is that.
Closing Comments:
Okay, so Chu Chu Rocket will retail for around 30 bucks. Now, while charming, we all know that it's a relatively simplistic game, especially taking into consideration the console it's been developed for. Do you think that this could be a trend? Would you enjoy seeing more simplistic yet inexpensive titles on the shelves?
Think about it; why shouldn't developers come up with enjoyable, albeit short-lived, titles that we could pop into our consoles and get a little bang for the buck? Since they didn't take as long to create, the cash sunk into the development period would be minimal, meaning dirt cheap games for us. Then again, perhaps too many developers would begin to take this as an easy-out to make crap games for a great price. It could be interesting. Let me know what you think.
-Drew Boskonovitch
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