Final Fantasy EZ's Thoughs

My partner Nemo currently wrote a blog about his experience with the Final Fantasy series. Well this time around I am going to share a recent experience I had. Not with the whole series but with Final Fantasy XIII.

I currently only own a Wii and a 360. I have not yet picked up a PS3 but I plan on getting one in the near future. With that said I was excited to hear Final Fantasy XIII was coming to the Xbox 360 as well. I went to pre order my copy last night but as I left GameStop I felt a weird sense of emptiness and confusion inside, not to mention I kinda felt ripped off.

The night before last I was up really late browsing Wikipedia, reading about the history of the Final Fantasy series. The first ever Final Fantasy game I played was Final Fantasy VI (III in US). I remember being blown away by the story line, gameplay, and graphics. I've never played anything like it on my SNES. This was the game that introduced me to the world of RPG. Soon after completing the game I went on an RPG rampage. Wanting to play nothing but RPG's, not only that but I expected every RPG to have a great story and look as good as FFVI. I played everything from Mario RPG to Chrono Trigger. Not to long after after I finally had got my hands on FFVII. "WOW!" was my first impression. After that, "WOW!" pretty much became standard when playing a new FF game.

You see there are several things that make Final Fantasy what it is... gameplay, story, and graphics. Each new game just manages to surpass the last one in graphics. FF games are one of the few games where I actually can sit back, enjoy, and be blown away by the cut scenes. Not once do i feel the need to constantly press buttons just to skip the scenes to get back to playing my game.

As I was reading Wikipedia that night I learned something that settled in my brain and has been bothering me since. While the gap between memory in Blu Ray vs DVD is huge I never really thought about how it might affect the games I play. The PS3 version of FFXIII will be all in one Blu Ray disc while the 360 version will be packed into three DVDs. I really don't mind swapping discs but, what I do mind is how much the game will be compressed into those three DVDs. The PS3 version will feature lossless audio and uncompressed 1080p cinematic cutscenes. The Xbox 360 version will have 576p cutscenes using Bink video and compressed audio. 576p!? Really? They couldn't at least make it 720p?

I know some might think I'm over reacting but hey, I want to sit in front of my TV drooling as I watch the amazing graphics and action packed scenes in their highest quality with amazing audio coming from my speakers! PS3 owners get to do it, why don't we? I mean isn't the reason most of us invest in high def TVs and gadgets is to enhance our viewing experience? Isn't the point to be blown away while sitting in front of the sofa? 576p is not even high definition by today standards anymore!

So as I was leaving GameStop I couldn't help but to feel ripped off. I'm paying just as much as PS3 owners will for their version yet I don't get the same quality for my money. Not to mention that playing Final Fantasy on Xbox feels just... weird... lol

Transformers: War for Cybertron New trailer

Released today is the new trailer for the upcoming game Transformers: War for Cybertron. So grab your loved one sit back open up a cold one and get ready to scream and giggle like a school girl. www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-gameplay-transformers-war/62342

PSN Update.

Released this week on the PSN demo section were the E3 demo of God of War III, a unheard of 90 minute demo of Darksiders, Eye of Judgment: Legends, and finally Sonic and SEGA All-Star Racing.

Metroid: Other M!!!!

Final news from the Nintendo Media Summit. Metroid: Other M was finally given a release date, June 27, 2010.










Cassamassina, Matt. " Nintendo Media Summit Live Blog." IGN. http:/www.wii.ign.com/articles/107/1071620p1.html

Dragon Quest 9?/ Prince of Persia

Today Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Skies for the Nintendo DS was announced to be published in America. For Dragon Quest fans this in incredible and very welcoming since fans of the series were unsure if this title would ever be released in America. It is also significant since this entry introduces a 4 player co-op.

Prince of Persia was also discussed during the Nintendo Media Summit. The Prince of Persia for the Nintendo Wii will come with an exclusive of the classic Prince of Persia that was released in 1992. Prince of Persia will be released in May of 2010.

Mario Galaxy 2!!!!

Mario Galaxy 2 will be released on May 23, 2010 as reported from IGN.com during the Nintendo Media Summit. No news yet on when Metroid: Other M and the release date, but stay tuned.






Cassamassina, Matt " Nintendo Media Summit Live Blog." IGN http:/www.wii.ign.article/107/1071620p1.html

Plants vs Zombies

Plants vs Zombies is a tower defense game developed by PopCap Games for Windows, Mac OSX, and now has finally made its way to the iPhone/ iPod Touch. This extremely addicting game has you using many varieties of plants to repel an attack of brain eating zombies from entering your house. Along the way your neighbor Crazy Dave helps you with tips and new items in exchange for coins that you collect during your battles with the Zombies. The battles take place in your front yard, backyard, and even the roof.

At the start of each round you choose a limited amount of plants for battle, although you can increase the number later in the game. The game also shows you which Zombies will take part of that battle and you will have to strategically choose which plants will do best to defend the attack.

The game includes a wide variety of gameplay styles. Some battles will take place during the day and some at night. This will affect what plants are available, how you harvest your sunlight (points that will let you buy more plants during battles), and the obstacles you encounter. There is a wide variety of different mini-games along the way as well. The game starts off pretty easy at first which helps you get used to things. As you progress it becomes more and more difficult.

The thing that makes this game so addicting is in discovering or unlocking something new at the end of each level. With 48 kinds of plants, and 26 different zombies this game will keep you involved for a long time. Even after completing Adventure mode you can go back and be faced with new challenges and more items to unlock.

The soundtrack and voice acting gives the game its charm and makes battle more intense as waves of zombies close in. The game characters are animated nicely and the game looks great in action.

Plants vs Zombies is a must have game for your iPhone/iPod Touch and priced at $2.99 this game is a steal!

Street Fighter IV (iPhone/iPod Touch)

One of the best thumb smashers of all time is finally making its way to the App Store in March. With a rooster of 8 character (Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, M. Bison, Abel, Guile, and Dhalsim) and priced at $9.99 this is looking to be a must have game for your iPhone/iPod Touch. The action is controlled by a on screen joystick and virtual buttons which you are able to position anywhere on the screen trough the in-game settings. Controls have been tweaked a little to make the game easier to play on the touch screen device. The graphics are pretty impressive with the character models and special effects looking a lot like the console version.

Yakuza!!!!!

Released last week was the Yakuza 3 demo on the PSN which is scheduled to release March 9th of 2010.

Why I love Final Fantasy. By Chris Moxon

Recently I've found myself wanting to divulge my spare time on a Japanese Role Playing Game (JRPG). With my Xbox 360 in storage I was left with only my PS3 and Wii, so naturally I began my search for a JRPG on my PS3. After an extensive search and talking to an employee at my local Gamestop, I was told that a great JRPG would be Star Ocean: Last Hope( A recent game that was released originally for the Xbox 360 early in 2009 and ported to the PS3 in Febuary 2010.) and White Knight Chronicles which was also released in the same month of this year. By the description that was given to me these were supposed to be games that took this genre to a whole new level. As soon as I popped these games into my Ps3 I soon realized that I wasn't wanting a JRPG, I was craving, yearning for a Final Fantasy game.



Final Fantasy (FF) is truely a unique experience and one that is not very easy to match when it comes to story,dialog and recently in the last 11 years, voice acting. My earliest memory of this series is Final Fantasy I. I went to my uncle's parents house for a family get together. I immediately went up stairs because I could hear a video game being played. I went down the hallway to see a door slightly ajar. My curiosity had peaked and I opened the door to see my cousin's eyes being engulfed by the television. I cannot articulate how I felt about the game except I had no idea what was going on. I do however remember that I enjoyed the music and graphics and being 5 thats all that really mattered to me at the time. My next encounter with the series was Final Fantasy III or VI (In Japan). It was the first entry of the series I actually played; I was immediately hooked. The graphics were crisp, The characters were engaging, the music empowered the mood, and the story was a staple for entries to come. From that point on I played every entry of the series that had a roman numeral next to it.





Why do I love this series? What makes me keep coming back? I have a handful of answers. Time and effort, The series is know for these two things to the point where the last two entries have been years apart. XII was nearly 5 years apart from X( I wont count XI because it was online) and XIII is nearing 4 years, but they achieved what they were going for no matter how off putting it may have been for some fans. Next is evolution . Whether it be a job system, a battle system, limit breaks, or buliding weapons from parts, the series is constantly evolving. FF IV was the first in the series to bring an actually storyline. FF VI gave fans a deeper storyline while also giving their characters more depth with dialog and clearer, bigger sprite actions. FFVII introduced 3D cut sceens and 3D characters along with limit breaks. I could keep going on but I feel I have made my point. Finally, personal feelings. This is core reason of why I find myself wanting more. I never hated a villian more than Kefka (FFVI). I remember the anger I felt when he was almost succeeded in destroying the world. I remember how I was fretting on facing sephiroth (FFVII); thinking that the task of defeating him was going to be near impossible. In FFVIII I felt the sense of closure and at the same time sadness when I beat Ultimecia because I knew that my time in that world was over, I would never see these characters again, their journey had come to an end.



As I end my thoughts I find myself looking foward to see how this series will keep growing, what new paths it will take, what other emotions Final Fantay will draw out of me and how they will keep me engrossed in their characters and stories. I have hope that my love for this series will keep on growing as I watch this magical series evolve because I believe that the best is yet to come.

Hello

Hi everyone, welcome to United Gamer. We are your host Nemo and EZduzit.We are dedicated to bringing you updates on upcoming games and consoles as well as, articles and hopefully videos. If you want to contact us you can email us at united-gamer@hotmail.com