Portability revisited -
March 1, 2001 - Chris Jones
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed
within this column are those of the participants and the
moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the
GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive
material afoot.
Isn't it time the Game Boy advanced to Game Man?
Don't say we didn't warn you.
I have nothing to say, and I won't spend a lot of time pointing that
fact out.
Onward.
| It makes him all tingly |
| Hey Chris,
I too am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the GBA. Why? I think it has a
lot to do with the gaming press hyping it up as a portable SNES, which just
makes me all tingly, as no system I've ever owned has brought me as much joy
as Nintendo's 16-bit fun box. Now I refuse to turn this into an old school
Vs new school debate (I can never seem to win those), but suffice it to say
that my personal preference has always leaned towards 2D games (heck, I hated
Tomb Raider before hating Tomb Raider was cool).
So the thought of a system devoted to 2D games, with the power of the SNES,
is cause for me to get excited. Plus the system looks, at least initially,
to be a hard-core RPG system, so there's another major point in the GBA's
corner.
One look at Golden Sun and Magical Vacation (MV especially, since I love the
Seiken Densetsu series), was enough to make me want to plunk down my
hard-earned cash.
And, hey-if any developers out there want to port some of their SNES classics
to the system, you won't hear me complaining.
-StudioWill, who is glad he's not the only one who watched that Frontline
documentary. |
For some reason, it's not the fact that "old school" games are 2D that
bothers me as much as the fact that they're downplaying what's possible on
a given system - at some level it feels like developers are talking down to
me, as well. Bionic Commando's a great game, but I don't want to play it as
a new title on a box that's capable of giving me Soul Calibur. But as a
corollary, I don't mind seeing SNES-level titles on an SNES-level system, which
is what makes the GBA so cool. F-Zero X, a new 2D Mario and Castlevania
are just icing on the cake.
| It doesn't make him
all tingly |
| Personally I don't see myself getting as excited
about the GBA as everyone else is. I don't usually play games in places
other than my room or maybe multiplayer game as a friends house, so
if I got the GBA it would basically be just to sit around and play it
when I was bored. Also most of the games seem to be things were
done already on the SNES. The SNES was great and everything
for its time but now I really don't want to play Secret of Mana again,
or even F-Zero again. Sure these games are fun and everything but to
pay money for a system of games that mostly look to be remakes of
other games just isn't suiting me. I'd rather spend my money getting a
Gamecube and a Playstation 2 rather than getting one of those and a
GBA. I guess portables just around really my thing and I'll always like
the system that can push the envelope more and can deliver those huge
games, I mean sure there are some games coming for GBA that I would
buy if I had a GBA, but is there anything for the GBA that is as anticipated
as a MGS2, an FF10 or even a Zelda Cube?
-Metnut96
|
For the most part, I see where you're coming from, especially with
regard to the most wanted games. I wouldn't mind an new F-Zero, and I can
imagine something like Secret of Mana gone portable with a cell phone
adapter for multiplayer, but all of that's just wishful thinking. Sure the
GBA sounds good, but as someone with limited time and money, is it really
worthwhile for me?
Yep, I realize that's pretty much the complete opposite of my last
response. I'm very conflicted on this issue.
| ...and we're back to
tingly again |
| Hey Chris -
Personally I think the GBA will be the best handheld system ever. I'm
getting a job with the sole purpose of getting up enough money to buy one
and a few games. And for some of the reasons you mentioned too; another 2d
Castlevania! Another true F-Zero! And I'll add, hopefully another true Mario
Kart. MK64 just wasn't as good as the SNES one IMO.
Along with that, full backwards compatibility with all GB/GBC games. And for
only $90. This is going to be sweet.
It'll probably be the only handheld in the US for a long time. At least
there are lots of people making games for it.
I'll get a wonderswan color as well, whether its released in the USA or not;
so far all the games use only hiragana and katakana, so I should be able to
figure out the stuff with just a few more semesters of Japanese. But I'll
only be getting Square games for it if its not released in the USA. Sigh.
Sometimes I wish Nintendo didn't have such a stranglehold on the portable
market.
Then I remind myself how much another 2d Castlevania is gonna rock.
--Chris G. |
I wasn't aware that the GBA was backwards compatible, but I haven't
been playing much attention until recently.
There's also the question of if the GBA's getting in the way of other
handheld systems making it into the market. The Neo Geo Pocket met a sad,
lonely death because of the GBC, and who knows what'll happen to the
Wonderswan... and the associated FF remakes. But at the same time,
who knows how big the market is for handheld systems in the first place.
Like Metnut pointed out, how much interest can there be when more
advanced games on more capable systems are coming out all the time?
| Gratuitous F-Zero X
bash of the day |
| "Amen!" to your F-Zero comment. The cheat code, poorly thought out
character/ship stat setup, and the simply terrible wannabe rock
music....what was EAD thinking!?
Hopefully F-Zero GBA will turn out to be the sequel that even the small
Satellaview expansion couldn't be.
KZ |
Just to clarify, I don't really dislike F-Zero X that much. It's
not a bad game, and it's pretty fun at times. But the original F-Zero
was an incredibly cool game for the time, very cutting edge while
still possessing that generic sf feel of a lot of early 16-bit games.
(Which isn't cool now, but it was back then.)
Try as it might, F-Zero X just can't measure up.
| Blandness personified |
| Hey Chris,
I totally agree with you one hundred percent when you stated that the
character design for FF:The Movie lack personality. Although I did
anticipate the characters to look realistic, this wasn't the type of
realisism I was looking for. I was expecting something along the line
of FF8 or even FF:Anthology, but with what I've seen so far as to the
final product, I'm starting to wonder who was responsible for the
hideous character look. All of the human characters look inanimate
[lifeless] and were completely unorignal. It looks to me as if
Squaresoft hired some American comic artist as lead character
designer, I mean that portrait of the heroin, Aki, looks like a
frigging man! I might be alone on this, but when I want to see a 100%
Final Fantasy CGI film, I expect to see a bit of fantasy - as in
characters who defies nature with stunningly attractive looks and
beautiful mugs! If I wanted to see a movie with unattracted
deadbeats, then I'd go see a live action film instead! Maybe this is
the reason why the film sunk so low at the screen test eh, with
characters who looked like this, I'm surprised the critics didn't
booed and walked out the testing. Anyway this concludes my venting,
and as a final note - if Squaresoft does pull the unexpected and
succeed with FF:The Movie and chooses to make a sequel, then I'd
highly suggest they hire the person responsible for FF7/8/Bouncer
artwork, whose name escapes me of the moment, as lead character
designer.
-ObeseRoach, whose not going to watch FF:The Movie until it's out on
video
|
Jeez man, calm down. It's not that bad. If you've seen any of the video
clips at all, Aki moves and acts with a realism not even hinted at by the
pictures. It's true that the character portraits lack the same kind of
flair you might see in other FF games, but again, that's probably because
these designs were made to move around, not just to be captured in the occasional
high-res render. The FF Movie has other problems, but nobody should give
up on it because of some badly posed head shots.
| Brilliance on demand |
| CJ,
I've always wondered, do the musicians compose the music before or after
they see what the scene is supposed to be? Or are they just told "make
something touching" and suddenly they make Aeris' theme?
As far the topic is concerned, well, I'm not too excited. I haven't played
Metroid in like 5 years and I'd love to a classic 2D sequel, but beyond
that...I don't know. Most of the SNES games I wanted to play again are being
re-released anyway, and it's not likely that any of my friends with buy the
GBA so we could all play something. I've never bought a hand-held after the
Game Gear, and I haven't came across a killer app yet to make me want one
anyway. Oh well, I guess.
I'll just wait and see what it can do.
-Red Raven |
My guess is that yeah, that's pretty much how it happens. Somebody
might have explained to Uematsu what was going to happen in the scene,
and I'm sure he had a chance to get the cues synched up to the final
version of the FMV before the game shipped, but by and large he
probably had to compose the lion's share of the OST before he got a
chance to see the actual game. Which may be an area where film and game
composers have an ability regular musicians don't, and might be a
reason why Moby or the Smashing Pumpkins might not be scoring FFXII
anytime soon.
Closing Comments:
Dunno why, I'm just kind of exhausted. But at least I don't have to tax
my brain coming up with a topic, because tomorrow's Friday. Send in
whatever you want. See you then.
-Chris Jones, still wants a
portable that uses a Glasstron as a display
|
