EC2151

Still, it's the type of tactic that a corporation does when it has no clue why it's doing so poorly, so it scrambles to make back cash however it can.

No, that's pretty spot-on as to why the battle system in XIII is lousy.

The Derrit, if you can't tell which one of those group shots look interesting, and which one looks boring, then there might be a problem with your merit-detectors. The 3D models, especially of the sprite characters and the PS1-era characters, have not improved upon the original iconic designs very much. While there isn't as much a change for characters like Squall, because he was originally designed realistically, but the more stylized characters have suffered under the constant slide of SE's art department's quest for complete generic-ness. You can tell what type of character Barret is in the promo art. In the CG stuff, you can like, uh, guess he's angry, and likes to wear really fruity mesh shirts. There's no hard edge among the whole group - and Barret and Cid are there! The chibi designs of FFIV ds more or less removed any semblance of seriousness FF4's plot warranted, and the Dissidia redesigns of FF5 and FF6 similarly made everything look way too much like Amano's character sketches, which I have always maintained were inferior to the actual in-game sprite-work of said characters (his monster work though is top-notch).

Every other company makes better sports games than EA's bread-and-butter machines anyhow, so it is literally no loss.

I wouldn't want that, because it's Square's tendency to redesign their characters to make them look as horrendously androgynous and effeminate as possible. Cloud and co. have gotten worse in every single redesign.

Yeah but I played Super Metroid for the first time three years ago so........... can't really fall on that 'silly nostalgia kids!' argument.

Now why would anyone listen to what this person has to say, ever again?

It's a way of reminding consumers why they even liked the company in the first place.

^In defense of English dubbing

sometimes a hammy english dub adds a charm all to its own though - see: Mad Bull 34, Dominion Tank Police, Cyber City... really anything with Manga UK's stamp on it.

The best dub ever is Devilman anyhow. second place:

You're missing out. Sonada's character designs in the original demolish the remake's look in every single way.

You'd better have the line "Givin' nightmares like Wes Craven" in there somewhere. Seriously you better

She is finding dynamic and exciting ways to spend her gobs of kickstarter funds!

Well, I don't think you can necessarily correlate the years on a year-one-vs-year-one and year-two-vs-year-two basis, if that makes sense. I see it more as DS sales peaking around a phenomenal high, and for the 3DS to succeed this high with a achingly noticeable rocky start - well, I think it's more than just "the system needs time", because after all, it doesn't take Apple any trouble whatsoever to astronomically outsell its prior iterations of products. Why this wasn't the case with the 3DS I think bespeaks to the problems it had with its launch - which again, is why we saw all those cancellations and delays (like MegaMan Legends 3, some sega stuff, and on topic, Bravely Default): bigwigs weren't confident in the successor to the greatest handheld since the original gameboy! Nothing to sneeze at! I still think it worth pointing out that Square isn't stepping up to localize this, Nintendo is, which still to me speaks of a hesitancy on big companies' parts to support the 3DS. Which means there is still much "traction" to be gained.

The 3DS is in dire need of an Advance Wars, though. The fact that Nintendo of America is publishing the game themselves though (as opposed to action on Square's part) does speak to an effort on Nintendo's part to bring games to the system in light of sales that are nowhere near as explosive as the DS's.

I suppose that I can now upgrade the 3DS's status from "floundering in the water" to "doing ok." I'm glad to see another game I'd like to play come to the handheld - you have to remember that all these games were released during especially poor sales months in the U.S., which meant that no publisher in their right mind wanted to bring them over. If big companies support the machine, it means that it's recognized as having a decent-sized userbase. FF Heroes of Light was too easy - I hope this one is tougher! Now, if someone would be kind enough to finally bring over to the states...

I finished the AD Police Files OVA, which is not too great a feat, considering it's only three 25-minute episodes. It was, well, alright. I suppose I'd enjoy it more if I watched Bubblegum Crisis first, since it's three different self-contained stories, which means that there isn't really a whole lot of opportunity to connect with the characters, though I liked the tough police chick, who reminds me of a likable Angel Cop. I really wish the series was about her. I really, really wish it had followed one building story over the course of the series, instead of three separate ones. The three episodes all have cool ideas, but they never go far enough or have enough time to develop into something greater than "hey, that's kinda cool." I also really had to laugh at how this show would throw tits on the screen for absolutely no reason. My personal favorite of these ADULT ANIMATION FOR ADULTS moments is when this scientist chick fucks this robot for absolutely no reason. Above: She wore this to work. Her science*laboratory*work. I guess Tuesday is dress-like-a-whore day at MAD SCIENTISTS INC. It was out of place and silly, trust me on this one. Kind of like most of the "sex" scenes. The art-style is great, as it is classic old-fashioned mecha/robots/anime stuff with a heavy dose of Blade Runner, SNATCHER, and cyberpunk. So if you don't feel like watching something deep or with a message, and have watched Bubblegum Crisis, I'd say give this a shot. It's entertaining, but it leaves you wanting more. I guess that's where BGC comes in. I suppose Bubblegum Crisis comes with nothing but the highest recommendations among the "old cool anime" crowd.

Sent in my first WIP! Let's see whatchu all got now! =p

I think that's missing the larger point of a console. Nintendo was successful with the NES, SNES, and Wii because it sort of understood what makes console-gaming viable to begin with - low cost, social interaction, simplicity, and mass appeal. Arguably, Sega did something similar with the Genesis, but in that regard it far more targeted young boys, which was a valid marketing move that gave them great success in the 16bit days. And Sony with the PS1 and PS2 realized how it could beat Nintendo offering similar strategies and targeting the mass audiences that Nintendo left behind in the N64 days. A successful console doesn't have anything to do with hardware specs or its relation to PCs, because PCs will always dominate in the hardware department. But the strength of a console is in that its hardware specs ultimately don't matter, which is what a lot of people forget in the PC vs Console scream-matches.

Well, the series has gotten steadily worse over time, so I'd say go for it. Soul Caliber IV? That was trash, man. Pure trash. I do dislike over time how the SC women have gotten more ridiculous outfits. I prefer a different approach to women characters. Different types of media will naturally be targeted, created, or marketed with various groups in mind. Male power fantasies are not really going to appeal to women (unless they are one of those cool women who think Die Hard is one of the best movies ever made!), nor do they really have to. I don't think everything has to have a pretty lady on the front to get my attention, as nice as that would be, but as others have said, it would be a knee-jerk response to see something like that and immediately cry afoul.

Not really - the Wii showed us that consoles are just as viable as ever - or rather they can be, granted that you make games that people actually want to play on it, instead of PC ports.

Mastering is a bitch. Inputting every single note everything by mouse/hand is a bitch. Listening to the same section of a song 600+ times over and over can definitely be a bitch. It makes the going very slow.

I always wanted a four on the floor remix of Terra's theme!

Soo kee ooh goo ren tai : p