Beating the dead horse.

[Loki]

tp://www.gamespot.com/mobile/action/musashimobilesamurai/news_6119834.html

quote:
Square Enix's president and COO, Ichiro Otobe, and Square Enix producer Kosei Ito are both attending the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. They stopped by the GameSpot offices this morning and showed off the titles and answered questions about the two new mobile games, Final Fantasy VII Snowboarding and Musashi: Mobile Samurai. They declined to specify on which handsets and with which carriers the games would appear.

The former (due out this next month) is a port of the snowboarding minigame found in Final Fantasy VII's Gold Saucer area, while the latter (due out this month) is an action-oriented take on the upcoming PlayStation 2 action RPG.

[Kefka Jr.]

Why not use their manpower to do REAL things?

[Marc M.]

Because then they would have to come up with an original idea for a change.
You know how gruelingly hard that is!

[IRC]

I think it's less about originality and more about making a quick buck.

[MasterSlowPoke]

Wait, the snowboarding minigame sucked. The motorcycle one was where it was at.

[Big Rick Cook]

Yeah, the snowboarding was shoddy.

[John Mora]

The Japanese love cell phones.

[SirTMagus]

But they've been loving SUCK lately too.

[Garr123]

I kinda liked the sub mini game.

[SirTMagus]

I liked when Square made games.

[Karr Lord of Chaos]

they floged the horse, they had a good time with the death hourse, and now they are just going overbord. they are destroying what ever ff7 had by over comercializing it, i guess we will have to hail ff6 as the altime wonderful game in history.

it would be nice if people stuck to their trade, rather then try to do every damn thing in the world.

[SirTMagus]

Yeah but... FF7 is the Star Wars of videogames. It made videogames what they are today. This commercialization and merchandising isn't exactly uncalled for.

[Draygone]

Yes it is. FF7 didn't become a franchise until somewhat recently. It was originally intended to be its own game, never to be brought back in any way EVER, aside from maybe a re-release or a remake. Same thing for about every FF game before 10. They should've left all these sidestories up to the thousands of people who already have been writing fanfictions for it.

(Star Wars is just as bad. I mean, they made a video game based on the LEGO Star Wars!)

[SirTMagus]

And, in a bizarre turn of events, it looks awesome.

[Armored]

I'd rather play a leggo version of star wars.

[Marc M.]

It does indeed look awesome.
Mainly because LEGOs are just plain awesome.

[Fushigi na Renamon]

Urgh. FF7 snowboarding?

:vomit

[JLaCroix]

I think the issue is more that there are games on cell phones. Dumb. Cell phones are for calling people, not playing games. Square is giving people something else to do rather than pay attention to the wheel.

They should remake the original FFVII with better graphics and things, that would be cool.

[IRC]

i guess we will have to hail ff6 as the altime wonderful game in history.QUOTE]

Some people do, I call us the smart ones. :D

[QUOTE=JLaCroix]I think the issue is more that there are games on cell phones. Dumb. Cell phones are for calling people, not playing games. Square is giving people something else to do rather than pay attention to the wheel.

They should remake the original FFVII with better graphics and things, that would be cool.

Maybe in Flint, We have a Car Factory Here, Michigan you only call people on phones, but everywhere else people play games on them, especially in Japan where all this is coming from. For them, your phone is a status symbol. The Japanese like to take technology and roll around on it naked in their beds like we do money. Plus with todays younger generation phones are approaching that importance as well.

And secondly, NO NO NO NO NO. There are already three remakes of FF1 and FF2. Remakes are retarded. I don't know how you people can rant and rave about Square's lack of origionality in its games and then ask for remakes of old games. "Hey Square, make something origional but make it like FF7" That just doesn't fly.

I think the biggest problem is that right now everything in videogames is suffering from J-pop. For the last few years it was extreme now it's J-pop. I ****ing hate trends.

[Fushigi na Renamon]

I think the issue is more that there are games on cell phones. Dumb. Cell phones are for calling people, not playing games. Square is giving people something else to do rather than pay attention to the wheel.

They should remake the original FFVII with better graphics and things, that would be cool.

That's a very, very good point, JLA.

[John Mora]

There's been a j-pop trend? What?

And they did try to remake the PSone FFs, but then The Spirits Within happened and Square found out they weren't god.

[Loki]

They did? Do you have a link?

[Caciss]

So, what are they trying to be now?

SATAN!?

[John Mora]

No. No I don't. Like I said, it was back before FF:TSW flopped.

[Denmo]

Personally, I think cell phones are dumb in general. They're giving our idiot brethren more reason to talk nonstop. And they don't talk about anything important either. They just.. talk. And talk. And talk. I can't stand it when I'm walking along and someone comes by spatting a one-sided idiot conversation into a piece of scrap metal. It annoys the living **** out of me.

"Oh, My, God, I was in class today.. and.. No, not physics. It was that other one.. You know.. Anyway, my teacher was like... What? No way!! OMG!! Ahahahaah! ... That's crazy! Why would-.... HAHHAHAH!! Oh wow... ... ... Hello? Hello? Hellooooo? .... Lost signal there for a second, what did you say? .... What was I talking about?"

GRR!!! :stab

[Caciss]

Aren't you an angry person. :(

[Denmo]

As far as cellphone games go though... Square can go right ahead and waste their money. Stuff like that will flop just like the NGage did, state-side at least.

[Loki]

I don't think they're too concerned with cell phone games in the staes.

Do you have any information that they attepted such an endever, Mora? I've never heard of them even talking about remaiking the PSX games, and I'm interested in it.

Mostly because I think it's a terrible idea.

[SirTMagus]

IRC nailed it perfectly.

And I think he means how Square focuses every single resource on presentation and selling soundtracks instead of focusing on a decent story or fun gameplay.

[John Mora]

FFX-2 was fun. It just needed a story. And writing. And direction outside of CG cutscenes.

[SirTMagus]

The battle system was fun, sure. It was almost like 3D Chrono Trigger.

But ohhhhhh, the gay.

[Valkysas]

their remake plans were everywhere around the time the PS2 launched. they wanted to redo 7 first, and take it from there. as for a link, um... go read every gaming magazine from 2000-2001, I guess.

[SirTMagus]

Yeah, I remember reading about them.

THAT **** WOULD'VE BEEN TIGHT.

[John Mora]

The battle system was fun, sure. It was almost like 3D Chrono Trigger.

But ohhhhhh, the gay.
Since when are you down on the gay?!

[SirTMagus]

The gay goes down on me!

[John Mora]

YEAH YOU WANT IT TO

[Ivalice]

Yeah but... FF7 is the Star Wars of videogames. It made videogames what they are today.

Fwaaaat? 7 was ok.....but it isnt the star wars of gaming.....7 is way over hyped......square has put out so many better games then 7.

Vagrant Story?

[SirTMagus]

You're right on about Vagrant Story but FF7 is definitely the Star Wars of movies for better and worse. Here's my analogy:

Star Wars brought the movie medium to a whole level. It got really popular, it sold tickets, and along with Jaws it revolutionized the "blockbuster." Every next big movie had to be just as expensive and flashy. ILM and everyone who worked on it proved that film can be an amazing canvas for what the imagination can do and it's still a cultural phenomenon today......

Can you see where this is going?

[Ivalice]

I see your comparison and totally respect your thoughts on it, but Mario 64 is what set a incredible standard for console games.

Atleast for both hardcore and mainstream gamers. Its platform can be used nearly anywhere.

I am however speaking about the hardware and gameplay and design. Although Mario 64 isnt graphically anything compared to FF7 its what was inside the game that made developers go "how in the hell can we do that?"

I have never heard an instructor reference to FF7 even when there is a huge rpg discussion...typically people talk about FF3 or FF 10 and occasioanlly Kotor.

I guess what I am getting at is you could walk along a street and ask people about gaming and mention FF7 and your gonna get almost just as many blank stares as you get "oh yeah that game rocks!"

I just dont think FF7 is the starwars of gaming....a good rpg....but not revolutionary.

[John Mora]

I agree with Magus. FFVII set the bar for presentation, not QUALITY.

[SirTMagus]

Hmm. I suppose, yeah but I can't think of a single negative aspect Mario 64 brought to the gaming medium... except that, maybe, not even its sequels could live up to it *glares at Mario Sunshine*... though that could easily apply to the FF games and SW movies too... not to mention all the crazy copycat games/movies out there. *glares at Glover, Crash Bandicoot, the original Battlestar Galactica and Disney's The Black Hole* I still go by my Star Wars/Final Fantasy comparison cuz you could also say they damaged their respective mediums.

You could say, thanks to Star Wars, movie audiences have become infantile and immature, constantly expecting the next big spectacle that'll satiate their A.D.D.-stricken attention with explosions and aliens (1997's Men in Black), instead of smaller, more intelligent fare (1997's The Ice Storm). And who cares if the movie's any good as long as the truckloads of merchandising is lucrative? *AHEM* POD RACE...

Final Fantasy VII seems to be traveling down this exact same road. It revolutionized RPGs and videogaming (with the help of its PSone release) as something everyone can enjoy, not just the FFVI and Dragon Quest snobs clamoring for obscure Japanese titles... who eventually GOT their obscure Japanese titles in games like Xenogears and Thousand Arms and Lunar... but FF7 also had that whole CG cinema thing that's so popular these days. (GRRRR XENOSAGA) And yes, it brought the RPG market to the front, oversaturating it with copycats and clones and (arguably) inferior sequels.

I think it's made Square very lazy, just as George Lucas is, who recently admitted that writing isn't exactly one of his STRONG points... hmm. Again, just like Square. They're just making PRODUCT now and no matter what the quality, we'll eat it up then complain about its aftertaste. I don't feel any of that "Final" Fantasy passion anymore.

And Mario's always been product... Mario RPG, Party, Golf, Tennis, and now DDR and Baseball! But... :run

Oh, and hey, Final Fantasy and Star Wars share a LOT more in common than just their cultural history. Their narrative history is virtually the same. *kills Biggs and Wedge*

[Ivalice]

I guess once you pointed out the negativity that the series is bringing for rpgs and rehashed crap....I saw the light of which you spoke of. lol

[SirTMagus]

HAHA! Excellent! Now a catch!

http://www.ewanmcgregoronline.com/Images_ewan_stills/Promo/Brassed_off/sing%20me%20a%20song%20or%20we%20are%20not%20moving%20this%20bus!.jpg

[JLaCroix]

Mario 64 was a let down to me. It wasn't a bad game, but to me it didn't have the magic that Mario 3 and Mario World had, and quite a few classic elements were thrown away, in favor of graphics.

[IRC]

Bah, you're like one big Yakov Schmirov joke.

Is FFVI return of the jedi or a new hope?

How can you say that Mario 64 was the star wars? How did it change the industry in regards to the audience of games? I mean I don't think that Star Wars changed the movie industry all that much, what it did was expose the world to a completely different way of doing things.

I mean you could argue that Mario64 is one of the great games ever(I don't necessarily think so) but how did it change things? FFVII is what made videogames mainstream. I don't remember TV commercials for Mario 64, but I do remember the first time I saw the FFVII commerical, AND FREAKING DIED.

Face it Final Fantasy 7 is the reason you play videogames. I garuntee you this, when we finally start studing the videogame industry like we do other industries, you will see Final Fantasy 7 as one of the products that changed the industry.

I don't know Beatles albums but if you take the album that started their accension from boy band to something else, Final Fantasy is that album for the videogame industry.

Get it?

[Loki]

See, the thing is, I read a lot of videogame mags, and I've read a lot of videogame mags. I've read just about every mag, every month. That's not a thing I'm proud of, but it's the truth. I even wrote a paper about videogame journalism, I enjoy this aspect of gaming. Yet, I've never heard or read anything about psx FF remakes.

I don't want to be a jerk. And I don't want to come off as an asshole, but you've guys have yet to show proff that Square ever had ideas of such a thing. Unless you provide something, I'm going to think you're talking out of you ass. No offense.

[Garr123]

I love Final Fantasy 7, I don't get why most people seem to be so down on it.

[Dreamknight]

I don't know Beatles albums but if you take the album that started their accension from boy band to something else, Final Fantasy is that album for the videogame industry.

Get it?

....No. :|

[Ivalice]

Face it Final Fantasy 7 is the reason you play videogames.

Uhhh....no? I didnt make it through the first disc and I gave the game back to my friend, I thought it was stupid.


There was this one game however that is the reason I play videogames....oh yeah Final Fantasy Tactics....yup the whole reason I bought a PS1.

.....and super mario 3....cant forget super mario 3

[Draygone]

And secondly, NO NO NO NO NO. There are already three remakes of FF1 and FF2. Remakes are retarded. Not all the time. In cases where the remake is of a hard-to-find game (besides eBay) like Dragon Warrior 4 or a game that never had a real US release like Final Fantasy II, it seems like a good idea. Although I'll admit bringing us Dawn of Souls a mear 1.5 years after Origins was rediculous. Then again, they got Origins not too long after the WonderSwan Color remakes, but then the WSC didn't do too well anyway.I don't remember TV commercials for Mario 64 I remember one. It was for an N64 price drop, and they showed Mario doing backflips and the like all over Peach's front yard. Interestingly, I don't remember every seeing FF7's commercials on TV.you've guys have yet to show proff that Square ever had ideas of such a thing. I can't prove it, but I also remember when they were talking about it.I love Final Fantasy 7, I don't get why most people seem to be so down on it. 'Cause people claim it's the start of Square's focus on graphics over gameplay. I think people would've liked it better had it used an in-game engine for all its cutscenes.

[IRC]

you've guys have yet to show proff that Square ever had ideas of such a thing.

Hi, my names Loki and I need a whambulance. (http://www.gamespot.com/ps/rpg/finalfantasy9/news_2679121.html)

[Caciss]

I can't believe Loki thinks we're a bunch of liars. :(

Also, I thought FF7 sucked. Big time.

[SirTMagus]

What about 8, 9 and 10(-2)?

[The_Real_Crunk]

I think that 8, 9, and 10 were way better than 7.

[IRC]

My dislike for FF8 is that it is the only game where you don't have to level up and in some cases you are actually encouraged to try and stay at as low a level as possible.

[Ivalice]

I like tactics and 9....thats its..the rest I see as crap.

10 had the awesome idea of blitzball, but the characters turned me away.

[Draygone]

For some reason I liked FF9 the most out of the other two (the load times and 5-second camera panning before the start of each battle are the biggest downsides I find with FF9). 7 was okay, but 8 could've been better IMO. Personally, I don't see how FF8 and FF9 would need remade in the first place. Yeah, those are low-poly models, but they still look pretty good. FF7...nope, don't want it remade. Unless they find a way to do so while keeping the original's graphical charm.

[IRC]

As long as they kept the music I don't think the graphics would have that big of a deal.

[The Toecutter]

Personally, I'd like to see an FFVII remake with graphics similar to those in Advent Children.But that's just me.

The overall atmosphere of Midgar was awesome. I wish more of the game could have had that feel.

[The Dark Jester]

Jesus.

I thought FFVII was way better than 8 9 and 10. Especially 8.

Ughhh...

[SirTMagus]

I was relieved to finally leave Midgar.

But yeah, it was awesome.

[IRC]

I don't know if I would say that I was releaved to leave Midgar, but I was definatly blown away by how you leave it. Honestly wasn't the Shinra Tower one of the best parts ever?

I can see the ups and downs of doing full on Midgar. But you start off there and the pace of the game is fast and action packed. It never slows down until you leave and then the entire pace of the game changes to the traditional world travelling gameplay. I think it gives a really nice contrast. And of course just when you're forgetting what Midgar is like the game takes you right back there and you experience that fast paced action all over again.

[Denmo]

I'll have to admit, starting over in FF7 is very addictive and nostalgic. I get a good vibe each time I play.

[IRC]

I always get that way when I play the older games. Especially Paladin's Quest. All kinds of nostalgia built into that game.

[Denmo]

It's wierd though, I don't get that feeling from games these days. Not even Kingdom Hearts, which I proclaim to love so much.

:\

[Loki]

I personaly think 7 is way overratted.

And thanks for the link IRC. I now will trust everyone no matter what they say.

[IRC]

That's because games these days don't have heart.

[Dreamknight]

Or maybe it's just cause you were much younger and impressionable when you first played FFVII?

[Draygone]

I remember when my cousin was the only one with FF7 that I knew (before I got my own copy, that is). For one, we figured that the whole game was going to take place in Midgar. It made sense, since I think, with both of us having little experience with RPGs (Mario RPG, and...that's about it), and I think maybe 8 hours in before finally leaving Midgar. We also had no idea how long the discs were going to be. When he was showing me Shinra's Tower, I asked if he was on the second disk yet. A long ways off, the end of the first disk was.

Oh yeah, I also remember how before he showed the game to me, how the main character's sword was so huge. He also said that the first boss's HP was some-odd times more than Smithy's HP (again, Mario RPG, with 8000 HP). Of course that wasn't really the case. Though you certainly didn't have to go far into the game before finding a boss with that much.