Final Fantasy: Forging The Future

FF ALL

I’ve thought a long time about how to write this. I knew I would need a Final Fantasy article honoring its 25th year in existence (if we go by the Japanese release dates), but I wasn’t sure what the angle should be. I’ve already written so very many posts about Final Fantasy that the readers probably think I am trolling them. I’m not. It’s just my favorite game (as you might have noticed) and it’s the one that always gets my blood pumping. But I’ve conveyed that already, many times before. I thought about letting the whole thing go by, but that didn’t feel right either.

So rather than talk about the past of Final Fantasy, which admittedly was when people still cared about the series, I’ve decided to talk about the future of Final Fantasy and what I think I can be done to salvage the once-proud franchise. There are tons of articles out there about this very subject, but I hope you will agree that I have shown enough credibility regarding Final Fantasy to make my voice stand out against the cacophony of chaos currently clouding the Internet like a sudden squall. (See what I did there?) Continue reading Final Fantasy: Forging The Future

Sony’s E3 2010 Event Highlights

playstationSo far, Microsoft was mediocre. Nintendo was superb. What is Sony, the Playstation 3 and PSP heavyweight, going to do? Would their press conference be the longest of the bunch? Let’s find out.

Here are the highlights, after the jump!

Continue reading Sony’s E3 2010 Event Highlights

GamerSushi Asks: Favorite Game of E3?

e3As I’ve said before in other places, E3 really is the pinnacle of the gaming year. It’s a magical time where gamers get to find out what they can expect for the next year and a half or so, gaming-wise. We’re able to speculate, drool and generally get excited about all the things we love.

The week saw a lot of crazy things. There’s Project Natal from Microsoft which actually looks to show some promise despite my earlier misgivings about it. There’s also the Team Ninja Metroid and Final Fantasy XIV for the PS3. Halo: Reach was a pretty big announcement, as well. On top of that, we got to see some gameplay for things coming out soon, like Assassin’s Creed 2, Mass Effect 2 and Modern Warfare 2.

My favorite game of the show though was probably Uncharted 2 or Splinter Cell: Conviction. I wasn’t expecting much from the next Splinter Cell at all, but they’ve really overhauled the gameplay since the last time we saw the game, and for the better.

So what about you guys? What was the most impressive E3 thing you saw this week?

Sony E3 Presentation Highlights

playstationAfter Microsoft’s Shock and Awe campaign yesterday, I think we were all anxious to see if Sony would even show up for their 2-hour presentation today. Here are the highlights:

  • Sony dude Jack Tretton opened with a joke about how nobody in the industry can keep secrets, a total reference to the leak of the PSP Go from the other day. I think it’s pretty classy that they can make fun of themselves like that.
  • 364 new games coming to Sony systems this year, 35 of which are exclusive. Considering the dearth of PS3 games for a while, this is welcome news.
  • Uncharted 2 Multiplayer beta goes live tonight. Single-player looks very impressive. Really seem to have meshed the shooting and platforming elements. Also, the graphics are incredible.
  • Gameplay footage of MAG. 256 players in one battle. For so many players, it looked kind of lonely. Would have liked to have seen more action.
  • Hannah Montana lilac colored PSP announcement for this Fall is met with cheers. I don’t know if that’s funny or scary.
  • PSP Go! announced officially. Will not replace UMD or other PSPs. 16MB of memory. Can download from PSN with built in Wi-Fi. 50% smaller and 40% lighter than original PSP. The price will be $249.99, available on 10/01/09. Too rich for my blood.
  • Gran Turismo for the PSP. Over 800 cars and 35 tracks. You can trade cars with your friends. Cool, but where is the PS3 version???
  • Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker for the PSP. Kojima announced it himself. Set in the Seventies, 10 years after MGS 3. Might show the origin of Outer Heaven. Looks like a full on MGS game, with the possibility of 4 player co-op in the form of Snake clones.
  • New Resident Evil for the PSP. Also, LittleBigPlanet, Monster Hunter, Motorstorm, Soul Caliber, Fat Princess, Guitar Hero and Star Wars: Battlefront.
  • Final Fantasy VII on PSN TODAY! Also, over 50 PS1 classics by the end of the year.
  • More content coming to Home. Meh.
  • Video of various games, including DC Universe Online, an MMO and also a PS3 exclusive.
  • Rockstar PS3 exclusive: Agent. Spies and assassins in the late 1970s. They claim this will have the same must-have value that GTA did. No footage shown.
  • Assassin’s Creed 2 footage. Looks pretty cool, might have solved the problems of the first game. Out before Christmas along with the PSP version. PS3 version will have 6 exclusive weapons.
  • More Final Fantasy XIII footage. Gorgeous, just like you would expect.
  • Final Fantasy 14 in 2010 for PS3 ONLY! It’s an online game! Awesome footage! This is the megaton announcement!
  • Motion control time: True 1:1 tracking. All of it was a tech demo, looks cool. Coming in 2010.
  • LittleBigPlanet is getting Disney themes. That is kinda awesome.
  • Mod Nation Racers announced. Part of the Play Create Share theme that Nintendo ripped off earlier. Drivers can be customized like in LittleBigPlanet. Think Mario Kart meets Sackboy. Custom tracks! That is pretty neat. Better than making Wario Ware games! The track builder seems easy to use as well, they built one on stage in just a few minutes.
  • The new Team Ico game is called The Last Guardian. The trailer from last week was indeed leaked, but it doesn’t change that this game looks incredible. Interestingly enough, the leaked footage is about a year old apparently, and this stuff looks way better.
  • God of War 3 will be the last game in the series, and it’s going to have some crazy brutal quick time kills. The ones on the centaur and the chimera are stinking insane. Creatures are going to get owned, for sure. The game drops March 2010.

Overall, a pretty solid showing with really no wtf moments to speak of. Not a whole lot of new stuff coming, but when you have this many exclusives coming over the next year, why do you need to drop a lot of new information?

What do you guys think? What’s the most exciting piece of Sony news?