Travelin' Blues -
May 24, 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.
Milk: anything less than 2% just won't do.
Don't say we didn't warn you.
Drove all the way to Los Angeles from Illinois and I'm still not all the way back yet, so not entirely back in column mode. Still, good to be back - E3 was a trip, and it was great to meet the staff. Not much more to say today.
Onward.
| I can't tell the difference between Zell, Volt, and Nomura... |
| Chris,
I think that Tetsuya Nomura should be written up by mainstream publications since his brilliant art style is arguably the largest factor in the mainstreaming of rpgs. Not only is his art style great, but he has boldly (and wisely) moved away from the superdeformed characters that are found in many rpgs even today. Examples of his 'realistic' work can be found in the FF7 (the battle models), FF8, the Parasite Eve series, and the Bouncer (hey, he's just the artist, not the producer). Nomura proved that you can give graphics an anime flavor without characters having heads two-thirds the size of their bodies. For more than a few of the casual gamers I know, rpgs begin and end with Final Fantasy. While the excellent overall quality of the games has maintained the loyalty of said gamers, the artwork of Mr. Nomura is what first drew their attention.
- Mark
|
I think Nomura's something of a double-edged sword - on the one hand, his artwork is somewhat more accessible to the unwashed masses than Amano's is, but it's also a turn off to a lot of hard core anime fans. Add in the fact that it's impossible to look at more than two or three of his sketches without seeing him repeat himself, and you have someone who has the potential to hurt gaming as much as he could help it.
On the other hand, I'm somewhat more verbal than visual myself, so maybe I'm just projecting my opinion that writers and producers should get talked up more than artists.
| I'd like to bitch about gaming companies for a bit... |
| I'd like to see some news articles on how the major companies are
destroying the traditional joys of console gaming with their "next
generation" approach. First, there's Square's approach to 'Netplay. After
shelling out $55 U.S. for the game, we get to log on to their network and
pay to use the disc. Are people seriously willing to do this? Why buy the
game disc at all? And what's the final cost going to be for a Final Fantasy
game, which takes anywhere from 40-60 hours to complete? At just $1 per
hour, you're out a hundred bucks.
Then there's this "multiplatform approach" being taken by Konami. Depending
on which platform you own, you get a different version of Silent Hill 2. So
are fans of the series supposed to go out and buy an Xbox to have the
"complete" version? Sure, let me get out my checkbook...whoops, overdrawn
from playing Final Fantasy online. No Xbox for me.
Netplay should be free. If that means paying more for the game, then build
the cost in to the game's price. Conversely, put the game online without a
game disc or give the disc away for free.
And if a company wants to port its games to different consoles, that's
great. But don't alter the content to make one console's version better
than another's. The Xbox/Silent Hill port is a slap in the face to
Playstation fans of the series. Konami would do well to remember that there
wouldn't BE a Silent Hill 2 if we hadn't bought the first game.
--Pilcrow
|
I haven't had a chance to read all of Nich's recent columns yet, so forgive me if I'm repeating arguments he's already made, but jeez, man, calm down some. I wasn't aware that the "traditional joys" of console gaming had anything to do with economic policies. Sure it's a pain in the ass for us to have to pay a usage fee for FF XI, but it makes a lot of sense for Square to set it up that way. First off, they've got a large infrastructure network to set up and pay for, and this fee will help them do that. There are plenty of people who may not want to pay for play, and I respect that... but come on, it's Final Fantasy. I'll pony up the dough, and I suspect a lot of other people will too. Also, a fee will ensure that nobody will likely keep playing any one Play Online game for too long, which is a good thing for Square since it gives them the excuse to constantly push new games on the service.
And it's just a personal pet peeve of mine, but I hate the phrase "slap in the face" - it implies a much greater preoccupation with personal honor than is probably healthy. Konami's trying to make money, and they're probably doing Microsoft a favor by giving people a reason to buy the X-Box version (and thus, the X-Box) rather than the PS2 edition. Still, I'm not worried - I'm still relatively certain the PS2 will have all the SH2 goodness I need from the game. If I'm missing a bonus interview with the developers or something, big deal. Speaking of the X-Box...
| I, also, would like to bitch some... |
| Chris,
No, this isn't about game developers or the professional high-class
periodicals that won't profile them. Sorry.
I'm geting really irked (underline that twice for effect) at how
everyone and their uncle (and their dog) is crying "Doomed, doomed, the
X-Box is doomed!" It's tres chic today to bash Microsoft. It's an
automatic action that doesn't require the higher brain functions at
all--people just do it because it's k3wl, and everyone else does it, and
if everyone else does it, then it must be OK.
I frankly don't think much of it has to do with the X-Box's offerings at
all (though that's a factor), I think it has much more to do with people
slinking about in the woodwork waiting for any excuse at all to leap out
and cry with a note of triumph, "I told you so!" as if the imminent
demise of Microsoft had been enscribed in holy writ thousands of years
ago, and they were the righteous few privy to the knowledge. Anyone
who's taken even an introductory economics class knows that a whole lot
of prophecies of this sort are self-fulfilling--if the X-Box fails, it
will fail because people wanted it to fail or thought it would fail from
the very start. They won't give Microsoft a chance, because MS is just
the evil monolithic corporation and that's that, why bother discussing
or worrying about anything else?
Ironically enough, the consensus seems to be that E3 this year was
pretty mediocre on all fronts, but that doesn't stop people from being
absolutely optimistic about Nintendo and Sony (and Sega, as far as games
go), while at the same time tossing off Microsoft with the condescending
air of a man brushing an irritating speck of dust from his shoulder.
If the X-Box does fail, I doubt it will be a serious loss to Gates. $500
million is nothing to sneeze at, but it's just a nick to him--he'll get
along fine even if he loses every penny. This seems to be the general
idea, that people can safely hate the X-Box because there aren't any
repercussions beyond slicing a chunk out of a rich man's net worth. None
of these people seem to take into consideration a developer (programmer,
artist, sales rep, playtester, writer, designer, director, musician)
working on the X-Box and its games who may very well be out of a job
soon because of the premature and automatic rejection of MS's console.
Try picturing a developer explaining to his wife and kids why he lost
his job because the system wouldn't take off in the market because no
one would take it seriously.
Yeah, no repercussions. Right.
-Matt Blackie
|
Just to clarify something here: Microsoft bashing has always been hip - it's not something that was invented with the X-Box, or Windows 2000, or even Windows 95. And part of the reason it's always been hip is because Microsoft is, in many respects, an unstoppable juggernaut. I was at E3, I played just about all of the X-Box demos, and they are at least as bad as most people have reported, and maybe even worse than that. There may be a bandwagon effect here, but there's most definitely a core of truth to the assertion that X-Box sucks.
On the other hand, it may not make a difference. Microsoft has entered new markets before with very weak products, and managed to ultimately dominate said markets just because it adapts to the market conditions and never, ever gives up. Sega gave up on the Dreamcast entirely too quickly for my tastes (I know the reasons why they did, but still) whereas Microsoft likely won't give up on the X-Box until it's completely obsolete, and maybe not until X-Box 2 comes out, no matter how badly it sells. So don't cry too many tears for Microsoft just yet... especially for that fictitious developer who deserves what he gets if he thinks he can support a wife and kids on a game programmer's salary.
| Pikmin are bad, m'kay? |
| I don't know what Pikmin reminds me of more... The fever-induced hallucinations I used to have when I was a sickly child, or the kaleidoscopic fairytale land I lived in for about six hours that time I dropped acid...
Now I have nightmares of Pikmin dancing with those freaky creatures from that Stone Temple Pilots Sour Girl video. Oh God make it stop...
The Trooper
|
There's nothing wrong with hypnotically controlling swarms of brightly colored anthropomorphic plants and making them do your bidding. Hell, I suspect I could do the same thing in real life with liberal arts majors if they were just a wee bit more weak minded...
| People who should be in the news more often |
| After reading the music letter I remembered this article in the news
paper. It seems AK still isn't dead yet, but is actually brave enough to go
out into public again. Lousy 2nd rate hit men. Oh well, here's the address.
http://www.dallasnews.com/technology/374918_soundtrack_24p.html
DCB - um...it IS the same Andrew, isn't it?
Ps: I realize how early I'm writing this.
|
Haven't had a chance to confirm it with the man himself yet, but unless there's two guys named Andrew Kaufmann with the same basic resume, yep, that's the AK we all know and love. Good to see one of our own in the mainstream media... although that's far from the first time, and it's almost certainly not the last.
Closing Comments:
I think my mail server's acting up, didn't get any new mail after about 12pm today. So if you sent something in this afternoon and it didn't go up, don't freak out, I just may not have gotten it yet. Free topic day tomorrow, see you then.
-Chris Jones, thinks southern Arizona is really boring
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