“Dammit!” will be posts on unfortunate gaming setbacks. This first unfortunate gaming moment comes from Final Fantasy, which I just started playing. I’m in the Earthgift shrine, for those familiar with the game. If you aren’t, this shrine is one of the cave-type areas you must explore.

First, I got lost in the desert, strangely occupying a basement floor of the shrine. Whatever. I came across a large worm that dealt 350+ damage. My party did not stand a chance. I was dropped off at the front entrance of the shrine with 4 collective health points. I went to town, I rested, I went back.

This time I went a lot faster through the shrine, though I took longer on B2 (which was a forest) than before. I took a different path across the desert and quickly reached stairs. I went through this so fast I don’t even remember B4. I made it to B5, which was a traditional cave-type maze layout that was symmetrical. There were doors ahead to the right and left, which both had blue fire blazing in them. I started to avoid it before foolishly confronting the fire. I don’t remember it’s name but it was stronger than the worm. I was barely hanging on when death came, and killed my entire party.

Why was this so difficult? It was optional. Its was a deadly optional dungeon that I entered twice. Final Fantasy has a fun trick of being open world and not at the same time. Sure, you can wander wherever you’d like. Just be prepared to be slaughtered for deviating from the story line. If you take a lot of time to grind and level up, this is less of a problem. However, the monotony of doing so sucks the fun out of the game. 


Dammit! posts will be rated using symbols above the numbers on a keyboard, with the highest value being eight.
Dammit! rating: !@#$ (4 out of 8)
Breakdown:
!: Lost in the desert
@: Killed by something I didn’t need to fight
#: Sent back outside
$:Returned to be killed faster by something else I didn’t need to fight.

I’m finally playing Final Fantasy, and I’m starting at the beginning. Luckily, the original games are rather easy to find on handhelds today, so I’m starting with FFI on PSP. I’m not very far: I’ve saved Princess Sarah and that’s about it. I have a Warrior, a Thief, a Red Mage, and a White Mage. I’ll probably get FFII on PSP as well, then switch over to DS for FFIII. I’ve never played any old turn based fighting games, so killed my party a couple times before I got the hang of it (and understood the importance of leveling up).

“It’s About Time” will be an account of games past that I am just now playing. I doubt there will be many as old as Final Fantasy.

Ok, you may think its impossible to suck at this game. All you do is roll stuff up. If that is your mindset, this post is not for you. If you like playing the game, but keep getting insulted by the King of All Cosmos as he abuses you, here are a couple of tips.

1. Non-stop Rolling.
Try to never stop moving. even if you are rolling up little things, it’s better than rolling up nothing. Aim for always hearing the pluck of new items on your Katamari.

2. Find a Path.
If you do a Prince Look, you will often see that the level is laid out in a pattern or path. Once you understand the paths, you don’t need to prince look to find them every time.

3. Stay in Your League
Try to stay around things you can pick up. Don’t wander too far away where everything knocks you around. You’ll loose a lot of time, and possibly shrink your Katamari in the meantime.

4. Look for Hidden Spaces.
Often there are doors that open to reveal a hidden space filled with things to roll. (In Beautiful Katamari, there’s a room filled with gold bars or Xboxes.) When rolling outside, look for shops or restaurants you can enter. Usually they are packed with easy to roll items. These places have a dual purpose: you quickly grow your Katamari and leave with a more complete collection.

5. If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try Again
Familiarity with the level is a huge bonus in Katamari. You learn what you can roll up and when, so you can have a mental game plan about which areas to tackle first. For example, in indoor levels, I try to stay on tables or shelves as long as possible, because items are often bigger and closer together than on the wide open floor. And, once on the floor it’s hard to tell where you are and what’s around you without taking the time to Prince Look.

The katamari games, albeit a bit redundant, are among my favorites on any system. I usually don’t buy a new (non-nintendo) system until there is a Katamari game for it. I know that sounds strange, but they never have multi-platform releases, and it so happens that the price has often dropped by the time it comes out.

In playing Need for Speed on Xbox 360 and Wii, I understand how serious Nintendo was when they said Wii was not a competitor to Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. Playing NFS first on Xbox 360 allowed me to see the game as it was meant to be. Six cars in an average race, massive 20 car race wars after territory takeovers, and sharp, clear graphics.

The Wii version was a sad, stripped-down version in comparison. Four car races, no race wars whatsoever, and when using rca cables, everything is fuzzy and dark. There’s no cabin shots from the other car during boss races, either. Clearly, A full featured game was made and subsequently stripped down to work on the Wii.

Game creators, developers, etc. should understand Wii is the apple among oranges. Because it is not a comparable system, a game can’t really be tweaked into working for the Wii if was developed for 360 or PS3. Not recognizing this reality emphasizes the Wii’s weaker engine, making the system useless for many. However, there are plenty of games developed specifically for the Wii that are fun, full featured and look great.

So, is it better to make the same game for all levels of consoles for a sense of fairness? Should they make different games for Wii, like the All-Play series for Sports titles?

Surely it costs less to make one full game and one stripped game. I want to say they should just skip making a Wii game all together, but if you only owned a Wii, the stripped version wouldn’t be so bad. However, if you have both, there’s no point it buying it on the Wii because it is better on the 360… but the 360 version is arguably harder, so maybe you’d rather have the Wii version.

I haven’t completely made up my mind on this issue…. EA has decided to make different versions of their sports games, but not so much with their other titles like Need for Speed. Maybe they improved with Pro Street, which I haven’t played. Tony Hawk saw a seperate Wii version, and SSX had the exclusive Blur, but they both kinda sucked. They forced motion controls when they weren’t necessary. Need for Speed is guilty of that, too. I think that every game should the option for classic controls, with the exception being titles like wii play, sports, etc. The motion controls are most beneficial when intuitive. Despite five options of controller configurations in NFS, I think that none is really intuitive.

While waiting for fall’s game releases, I’ve been revisiting some previously played titles collecting dust. I got the smart idea to “beat” Me and My Katamari by completing the collection. That means collecting everything there is to collect in the entire game. I’m beginning to think it’s a matter of luck more than persistence. Even with eternal mode (which has no time limits) it’s proving to be harder than I expected. But, this weekend is the first weekend off that I’ve had in a while. After seeing Hamlet 2 this afternoon, I’m going to try to beat the first boss race in Need For Speed Carbon on Xbox 360. I’m finding the race particularly hard. My car doesn’t seem good enough to keep up with him, but I’ve been too impatient to make it too the end. I get speed hungry and end up going over the edge. But anyways, after that it will be more Katamari collecting.

There’s a ridiculous PR war that fans are taking pretty seriously: Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero. I’ve mentioned it before as being silly, but a quote got blown out of proportion, and fueled a fanboy bonfire of comments. Many swore they would never (or, to quote, “NEVA”) buy Guitar Hero. I used to work at a movie theater, and occasionally people swore they would NEVER come back.

They came back. It’s rarely an intimidating threat, but that isn’t the issue at hand. The issue is many wanted to call Brian Bright a copycat after he called Rock Band a copy cat. The obvious Pot vs. Kettle vs. Pot nature of this isn’t the issue either. The common argument is that neither Activision or RedOctane created any music anythings, and they are big fat cheaters. And, unrelated but often mentioned, Tony Hawk games suck.

Well, Activision knows they didn’t create anything. That’s why they hired John Devcka and his Enterprises, creators of MTV’s Drumscape, released in 1997 on the basis of 1996 Devecka Enterprises pattens. (DrumMania wasn’t released by Konami until 1999.)

Harmonix originally wanted to make music accessible to those who found traditional instruments too challenging or intimidating. They didn’t seem to previously have an interest in games with controllers that simulated instruments, like guitars, before working on Guitar Hero with RedOctane. It was RedOctane who asked them to created a game that would use a simplified guitar controller.

And, to flesh out this history, it was Konami that created a game link between their drum and guitar arcade games, effectively creating the first gaming band. Konami and Harmonix worked on Karaoke revolution before the Guitar Hero series came about. Konami hadn’t previously released a drum or guitar game in America, likely because their formats would be in violation of the patent held by Devecka Enterprises.

so

Devecka, in America anyways, had the original idea for realistic instruments that created a realistic music experience, and filed a lot of pattens.

MTV Drumscape, made by Devecka, was the first drumming game, not DrumMania by Konami.

Harmonix made music games, but not with realistic instruments. Their most literal was with Konami for Karaoke Revolution, which used a microphone.

RedOctane asked Harmonix, critically acclaimed for their games FreQuency and Amplitude
to create a guitar game for a controller that they would produce. RedOctane previously made high quality dance pads for Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution game.

Konami did not release neither DrumMania nor Guitar Freaks in America, likely because their instrument designs violated Devecka Enterprises’s pattens. They did release Taiko Drum Master and BeatMania, probably because these devices were not specifically in violation with Devecka’s patent.

By September 2006, Harmonix was acquired by MTV games and RedOctane was acquired by Activision, who delegated the Guitar Hero series (Red Octane apparently holds the rights) to Neversoft.

RedOctane and Activision separately copyrighted different game titles, including “Drum Villan” and “Band Hero” while working on Guitar Hero 2.

Konami got hosed. They (without obvious malicious intent) improved upon vague patents and then were not part of their realization in the US home market.

Harmonix and MTV, in their creation of Rockband, both seemed to take advantage of previous partnerships to flesh out the first Rockband, but the basic idea started long before either of them.

I don’t know why Activision is charged with malpractice here, or why Harmonix is assumed innocent. All games come on discs, Microsoft is getting avatars, and Rockband isn’t completely original. Neither is Guitar Hero.

And thanks to commenter Setzer IIDX for mentioning some of this history on the Kotaku post.

Gamesutra has the full text of an interview with accomplished game creator Hirokazu Yasuhara. The article goes beyond games to explain how game design can mirror the challenges and emotions in life. The cycle of fear and relief that we can identify in life is the same principle that shapes good game design. What he uses to create positive gaming experiences correlate to reality in their foundations for success (such as being comfortable in your environment and achieving goals). He states there is no real freedom in games, and that a responsible, caring master creator is necessary for a good gaming experience. It’s a very holistic approach to gaming, and evidence that this man should write a book on his musings. Whether you agree or not, it’s intriguing to hear what he thinks about games.

Yes, I’m kickin’ it old school. It’s Nintendo’s Super Scope for SNES. I bought this a couple years ago at a garage sale for $1.00.

yes. $1.00. That fact is either amazing or appropriate.

It came in the box, in the original plastic, with the twist ties and everything. absolute madness. There’s no signs of use. It looks just like what that boy holds there. I’ve used it a couple times, but (surprise!) it’s not that comfortable.
The receiver is hooked up, so it isn’t pictured. This is by far one of my better garage sale finds. Too often you find clothes that smell like sour cigarette smoke and Christmas decorations; this was definitely a rarity.And, being such a sucker or peripherals, I know I’ll never get rid of it.

My two month old PSP has already been undermined, and you bet I’m bitter. I know this is the way things go. That’s why I waited so long to get an Xbox and continue to stall on a PS3. It’s why I waited to get a DS and even why I waited to get a PSP. I didn’t want to be stuck with something old, clunky, and featureless when undoubtedly something new, shiny, and feature-ful came out the next year. Despite my efforts this has (sort of) happened to the PSP. The 3000 was announced officially, and I want to be mad about it.

But, I know that’s a wasted emotion. I know that this happens, but why so soon? It’s a function of electronics at large that they consistently get smaller/better as time goes on. I waited for a higher storage capacity iPod, they came out with color. I wait and buy a video iPod when my old one breaks, they come out with thinner models and a touch screen. I know I can’t be mad about it, because in some sick way it’s exactly what I want: something newer, something shinier.

Though I only own original versions, I believe SNES and Genesis, among others, came out with later, better versions. It’s certainly something to be expected in the hand held market (along with fancy new colors!). Even though it brings better products to the market, it makes those who buy first feel like guinea pigs. Sure, I could trade in my system and lose less money, but I don’t want to lose any money. I want the brightest strawberries on what I’ve already bought.

I also don’ t want to feel foolish for buying/not buying the new/old Xbox360/PS3. There’s work that goes into planning a good purchase date, which figures in price drops, obscure system parts, and a complex graph of how important online capabilities are to me. At some point, I just say “screw it!” I buy the system and close my ears to the news about what a big mistake I’ve made.

At the same time, I know this has all been done in the effort to please me, the gaming consumer. As a collective voice we are always bitching about something, and the booming industry is eager to improve. So, what I hate is what I create… sounds like something I’ve read before (and heard before, and watched before, and played before…)