Huh, games like this always seem to be the BEST looking if you ask me. More stylistic, artsy, great animation...better than most Western "realistic" titles.
Art styles are never "outdated", they're just different.
This one was "average", there are many that are above average to great, including a lot that NISA has also brought to the West in the last couple years (the last two Neptunia titles, the Atelier games, Ar Tonelico III, Disgaea 4, et. al.).
You also must not have read the article, which never dings Microsoft for charging to play online. It's simply the fact that XBL is less of a value than PS Plus.
The article never said that it was wrong or a bad idea for Microsoft to charge to pay online. Did you read it? It says that the VALUE of XBL is way less than the VALUE of PS Plus. That's the whole point.
I somewhat agree with you that the market has changed a bit. Also, other hardware do reach into other mediums besides games. I love being able to watch Netflix and Hulu on my PS3, for example, but at its core it is still a gaming platform.
With the Xbox One, Microsoft seemed to be saying that the system, at its core, was a TV-watching machine of some sort, with a camera so you can call your friends and, like was stated in the article, do anything other than focus on playing g...
You tried FFXIV again a few weeks ago and it was the same at launch? Wow...I highly doubt you tried it again then, and if you did, you sure didn't do a whole lot. It's practically an entirely different game as far as mechanics go.
"Most adult FF by far".
That is probably why many people don't like it. They just don't understand it.
Aside from FFX and FFVI, it probably is my favorite FF of them all, to be honest.
Funny, the vast majority of people I know actually enjoyed FFXII more than most others. To each their own, I supposed.
I'm still cautiously optimistic, I'm afraid.
@ronin4life: I agree mostly. I think Japan gets what the majority of Americans don't - and this is a general statement that can even apply outside the realm of video games - they GET that sexuality is a part of life. Which it is.
We're always "ashamed" somehow in the west of this sexuality. Can some of it be objectifying women (or men)? Sure it can. But the majority of the time in Eastern games (sans a few), that isn't the point.
However...
I completely agree with your assessment that "its not the fanbase that's at fault for the seeminigly lack of JRPGs in the west...it's the publishers."
To ad to it, it's partly the attitude that a lot of Western gamers have these days.
Regardless, that's an impressive list. :)
I'm interested in what you consider "amazing", because it's a very subjective analysis.
I've got Ar Tonelico Qoga, FFXIII, Disgaea 4, White Knight Chronicles II, both Atelier games, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Star Ocean: The Last Hope, Eternal Sonata and Record of Agarest War Zero sitting on my shelf. All of which I consider decent to great and certainly worth owning. Plus, there were many mentioned in the article which will be releasing in the next year. ...
By your own use of past tense you imply that the drought was in the past...which it was, because there sure isn't any lack of JRPGs on the PS3 now.
Well, let's not jump to conclusions on stuff we don't know. The God of War remasters were actually redone completely with higher resolution textures and all. If they do that, this will be amazing. If they just bump up the resolution and add trophies, it will still be cool, but wouldn't impress me as much. ;)
There's nothing to say we can't see a combination of both. Companies are not always going to make new games, it's very high risk, while HD remakes could bolster the pockets of these companies to make those games.
Oh, wait, this was already explained in the original article. ;)
The Xenosaga collection would make AWESOME HD re-releases, as long as they fix the damn battle system in the second game.
@NESPower: I think it's more of a handheld vs. a handheld. The 3DS is considered a "new generation" handheld over the PSP, so if a PSP game of the same franchise looks better than it does on the 3DS...that's concerning to me, personally. So, I can see how people in general could be worried about it.
I remember speculation, but nothing officially confirmed from Sony.
Yes please! Finally!
@majiebeast First off, the last beta phase of FFXIV: A Realm Reborn had more content than SWTOR did at launch, and that was only about half the content of the first 35 levels, if that. A Realm Reborn has to cater to people who are already at max level, so of course it's going to have way more content - throughout the game and at end-game - than SWTOR ever had at its launch.
Secondly, you can't say this MMO failed the first time around because, quite frankly, it's ...