Console Cycle’s Length A Mistake Says Square Enix

This current generation of video game consoles has brought a great many new innovations to the industry. The most surprising has to be the length of the current gen. Now, as a consumer, I am happy with this. There are so many games I want to play that the thought of a new console still makes me nervous. However, even I am starting to wonder about the when the next generation of consoles will land on store shelves.

One person is not pleased with the lifespan of the PS3 and the Xbox 360: Julien Merceron, the worldwide technology director of Square Enix, stated that:

We have Sony and Microsoft talking about this generation lasting seven, eight, nine or even 10 years and it’s the biggest mistake they’ve ever made.

He goes on to say a few more things, such as advocating for shorter console cycles and lower costs of development, the latter of which being a good thing for all, in my opinion. Merceron’s reasoning for this is that developers are always attracted to the new hotness and since there were no new consoles to develop games for, they went to web broswers and iOS. And he claims that they will not come back to consoles.

But let’s examine his initial claim that devs went elsewhere because there was nothing new to develop for. First, as a fan of Square Enix, I have to say that this is utter drivel. If new consoles had come out, say, a year ago, iOS and web browsers were already strong at that point. So that doesn’t hold. If he means they should have released them before iOS games came out, that would have been in 2007. So that would have given the 360 a 2 year lifespan and the PS3 a 1 year lifespan. That doesn’t make any sense.

On top of that, there’s the fact that even if the consoles had been released in 2009 or so, before the rise of Farmville, the devs would still have gone to web browsers and iOS, to at least try them. That’s his whole point. So it doesn’t really matter when the consoles come out because according to him, the devs go towards the new technology. And since iOS is pretty damn good, I don’t think they would have said, “Oh, this is great and all, but we should make Angry Birds for the PS4 instead.” It doesn’t compute.

And for a final shot at the company that gives me more agita than any other, if the console cycle is so long, how come I have only 2 Final Fantasy titles on my shelf, one of which was a direct sequel reusing the assets from the previous game? Answer me that, Tech Boy.

Am I being too harsh on Mr. Merceron? Or is he making excuses and suffering from delusions? Hit the comments!

Source: IGN

Twenty-Five Years of Metal Gear

metal gear solid 25 years

What’s this twenty-five year anniversary post doing here? Yes, this past Saturday, July 7, one of the longest-running franchises in gaming, Metal Gear Solid, turned the big two-five, celebrating a quarter-century of extended monologues and exclamation marks.

Debuting way back in 1987, Hideo Kojima’s tale of a cloned super-spy spans multiple console generations and has a legacy that has left an impact on a generation of gamers world-wide. Every Metal Gear game redefines the series and adds new gameplay conventions that make for some of the most unique gaming experiences available.

My first brush with Metal Gear Solid came back when the Snake Eater rerelease Subsistence dropped, allowing me to use a 3D camera, a la Splinter Cell. While this isn’t the way MGS had been played traditionally, it gave me a way to try out the series and that game quickly found a solid place in my top-ten games of all time.

While the MGS games can sometimes border on goofy and outright ridiculous, I still love them all the same and wouldn’t change a thing. What about you guys? How has Metal Gear affected you gaming history? What was your favorite title or moment from the series?

Get a Peek at Halo 4’s Forge Mode

I was originally going to title this post “Halo Fourge Mode” but I realized that nobody would search for that term, ever. Bungie left some big shoes to fill, what with their Halo titles raising the bar for extra features in a console game. The Theater and Forge mode of Halo 3 and Reach spawned hours of awesome creations, so 343 and Certain Affinity (the developers of Halo 4’s take on Forge) have their work cut out for them.

Convention goers at RTX 2012 (which our very own Eddy Rivas attended and had a panel in) got to look at Forge mode and the new toys that are being packed in. There’s a 15-minute plus demo floating around, and while it is off-screen, it’s still a good look at what we’ll be getting our hands on come November.

While I never had the patience to mess around too much in Forge, some of the maps and gametypes that have come out of it are simply stunning. With all the new tools in the box, I can’t wait to see what people come up with. What do you guys think about Halo 4’s Forge Mode? Can 343 and Certain Affinity step up to the plate?

Final Fantasy VII Coming to PC

final fantasy 7 pc

Gamers rejoice, Square’s much lauded Final Fantasy VII is getting an HD remake for the modern age! Unfortunately it isn’t being redone in FF13 style graphics, but I say take what we can get.

Coming soon to PCs everywhere, the remastered Final Fantasy VII will take the classic RPG into the modern age, adding such gaming staples as achievements, cloud saving and the ability to buy items, gil and HP/MP without waiting to earn them.

That last bit is a little strange, but in this day and age not everyone has the time to endlessly grind these things out, so the ability to buy items and HP will certainly be appreciated by some. The game will be available exclusively from the Square Enix online store when it launches soon â„¢ .

Are you guys excited to be getting an FF7 remaster? Are you going to pick it up? What do you think of the new features being added, and what kind of achievements do you think will be in there (I hope they added our “Once You Go Black” cheevo)? Go!

Source – Final Fantasy VII PC

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 52: Kick Reason to the Curb

the gamersushi show episode 52

Alright guys, we are finally releasing Episode 52, which gives a couple hints as to just how obsessed some of us are with Gurren Lagann. Like the teaser for this post says, this cast wraps up season 2 of The GamerSushi Show so we can take the dead news season off and come back swinging in September.

In this finale we talk about Sony nabbing Gaikai and what that could mean for gaming. We also discuss the Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut and how we feel about it and then we talk about good old Peter Molyneux and his thoughts on the never-ending dev cycle. Listen up, rate the podcast, and remember: don’t believe in yourself, believe in the me who believes in you!

0:00 – 5:40 Intro
5:41 – 21:50 Sony acquires Gaikai
21:51 – 34:29 Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut
34:30 – 42:23 Molyneux and the Never Ending Dev Cycle
42:24 – 47:36 Outro

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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What Are You Playing: Land of the Free Edition

what are you playing

I’m sure I’m breaching some international accord by posting an Independence Day themed “What Are You Playing”, but Canada is no longer directly under the dominion of the British monarchy, so I feel safe (don’t worry, the Commonwealth isn’t contagious).

In the spirit of the holiday, I pose this question to you, kind reader: what are you doing today on the most patriotic of days, aside from shooting off fireworks from eagle-back? Me, I’m at work right now, but I think my evening will consist of The Amazing Spider-Man, Beenox’s latest stab at making a half-decent title about the webslinger. For the most part they succeed, but at the end of the day it’s still a pale imitation of the Arkham style Batman games. That said, it’s loads better than last year’s Edge of Time, so expect an in-depth review for that one when time permits.

I can’t speak for the rest of the GamerSushi editors, but Eddy, Nick and I have been getting in to PC gaming in a big way, and Eddy even picked up the Combined Operation package for Arma 2, so expect some Day Z stuff from us soon.

What about you guys? What is your current gaming fare?

Poll: Most Anticipated July Release?

Back again after taking the month of June off, it’s time for our monthly poll where you tell us what upcoming release you are most looking forward to. June had a game or two, but it was quiet for the most part. With all the E3 hoopla, who has time to actually release a game, making June a good month to work on the old backlog.

Sadly, July isn’t much better. There are a few good games coming out, but most of it is for the niche crowd, such as JRPG fans and college football fans. Nothing wrong with that, as I am (Shocker!) apart of both demographics, but it looks like July will be another month to chew my way through The Witcher 2. Although The Last Story is something I plan on getting, it comes out at the end of the month. And that Final Fantasy music game for the 3DS is tempting ,e to buy a 3DS. Grr. I take it back. This is a good month for some games.

So hit the poll and hit the comments and let us know what July release you are looking forward to playing!

Which July Release Are You Most Looking Forward To?

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Sony Invests in Cloud Gaming with Gaikai

Gaikai

Just before E3, rumors swirled something fierce about Sony acquiring a video game streaming service. The two big names, Gaikai and OnLive were both on the table, although most sources seemed to point towards Gaikai as the expo neared. But then, E3 came and went, without any kind of announcement.

That announcement hit today. Sony has purchased cloud gaming service Gaikai to the tune of $380 million. In a time where Sony is reporting some of its worst financials in its history, this is a bold move, and one that gives some kind of hint at where Sony thinks the industry is moving.

So what does this all mean? The leading theory at the moment is that Sony is going to forgo traditional backwards compatibility for the PS4 in favor of making the entirety of the Playstation catalogues accessible in the form of a cloud gaming service. This means that 1) Sony can save some hardware costs on the PS4 without feeling the need to make it compatible with PS3 games and 2) every game from the Playstation 1, 2 and 3 could be playable via streaming. The implications behind that idea are pretty huge, and is incredibly forward thinking on Sony’s part.

What do you guys think of this purchase? Do you agree with the prevalent rumor about Sony’s future plans? Go!

Source – CVG

Molyneux on the Never-Ending Dev Cycle

Molyneux

Peter Molyneux has gathered a reputation as a bit of a whacky guy in the industry. As much as the guy makes grandiose promises and far-reaching claims, it’s hard to deny the charm behind a man that dares to dream the impossible for every new game he tries to make. People make fun of him a lot, but I have always admired that Molyneux is trying to explore and innovate, even if it does kind of blow up in his face every now and then.

On the subject of making games in the aftermath of leaving both Lionhead and Microsoft, Molyneux spoke with Gamespot about the state of the industry and what he sees as the future. In an interesting conversation that covered everything from social gaming to future tech and smaller developers, one bit in particular stood out to me: the idea that development never ends anymore, and that this can be problematic for the industry.

“I think that we as authors of stories and entertainment, we have to stand by our decisions and justify them and take the rough with the smooth. If people don’t like it you can’t just go and change it because if you have any sense of authorship, you’re playing through a plan. That being said, nowadays there is no end of development anymore. You used to release a game and that was it, you were done. It was in the box. Now, you release a game, and there is this possibility and technology that allows you to change it.”

In an age of endless DLC, it’s easy to see what he’s talking about. While I do agree that sometimes things just need a good ol’ fixing, it would be nice to let developers make a game and then move on. I know that publishers invest so much in games these days that they want to keep making more money from their products, but it also seems like they would benefit from turning around and working on new projects once one gets out the door. That would certainly keep developers from having to lay people off once the huge project is done, if they’re a one-game studio.

What do you guys think about this? Is Molyneux off his rocker again? Or does he have a point about the endless development cycle? Go!

Source – Gamespot

Two Ways to Play Dishonored

One of the most anticipated games of the fall just happens to be one we had no idea about until just a few months ago. Bethesda and Arkane Studios’ newest property, Dishonored, promises to bring stealth and action gameplay in the vein of Deus Ex while adding an atmosphere and magic system more akin to Bioshock. The mash-up of all these things is something that is certainly exciting, and something that I’m looking forward to like crazy.

Lucky for us, then, that Bethesda has just released a couple of videos detailing how a player can tackle the same section of the game through various means. The stealth video features choke-outs, body possession, teleporting to sneak around your targets and all kinds of other goodies. Meanwhile, the action video features time-stopping, brutal knife kills and whirlwind-attacking targets straight through windows. So yeah, they’re kind of cool. Check them out.

Stealth:

Action video is after the jump! Continue reading Two Ways to Play Dishonored

Valve Releases Source Filmmaker, Meet the Pyro

It’s a good day to be a Valve fan as we’re being treated to two new releases from everyone’s favorite gaming company. First is Meet the Pyro, which finally takes us behind the mask of the mysterious flame-spewing class…kind of. It’s not the strongest of the Meet the Team videos, but it has its moments.

The big news though, is that Valve is putting out Source Filmmaker, and there’s a video you can catch after the jump. Continue reading Valve Releases Source Filmmaker, Meet the Pyro

Nintendo Thinks Gamers are Insatiable

nintendo thinks gamers are insatiable

Gamers, why you gotta be so mad, bros? At least that’s what Nintendo seems to be wondering if this interview with Reggie Fils-Aime over at Kotaku seems to be any indication.

With E3 (and Nintendo’s baffling parade of press conferences) behind us, most of the negative fan reaction has been forgotten about, but the bad feelings towards Nintendo’s showing still lingers. We’ve known for a long time that we’re a hard bunch to please, but this little quote from Reggie kind of puts it in a publisher perspective:

One of the things that, on one hand, I love and, on the other hand, that troubles me tremendously about not only our fanbase but about the gaming community at large is that, whenever you share information, the perspective is, ‘Thank you, but I want more.’ ‘Thank you, but give me more.’ I mean, it is insatiable.

And so for years this community has been asking, ‘Where’s Pikmin?’ ‘Where’s Pikmin?’ ‘Where’s Pikmin?’ We give them Pikmin. And then they say, ‘What else?’

For years, this community have said, ‘Damnit Reggie, when you launch, you better launch with a Mario game.’ So we launch with a Mario game, and they say, ‘So what’s more?’ I have heard people say, ‘You know, you’ve got these fantastic franchises, beyond what you’re doing in Smash Bros., isn’t there a way to leverage all these franchises?’ So we create Nintendo Land and they say, ‘Ho-hum, give me more.’ So it’s an interesting challenge.

While I think that Reggie is right on the money with a couple of his comments, you can’t deny that Nintendo rightly deserves some stick for a lack-luster E3 press conference and following it up with some big WTF announcements like a new, bigger 3DS. What do you guys think? Are Reggie’s comments justified? Are we really that hard to please or is that the vocal minority talking for us again?

Source – Kotaku, Polygon

15 Gaming Mash-Ups That Surprisingly Worked

pokemon conquest

One of the most bizzarre crossovers of this year is Pokemon Conquest, a game that mixes up the creature-catching RPG with the tactical turn-based strategy of Nobunaga’s Ambition. If Pokemon in Feudal Japan sounds like your kind of game, then I’ve got good news for you, because apparently this title is pretty dang awesome.

I haven’t played it personally (yet) but this crossover got me thinking about what other games have blended two genres or universes and got away with it. Thankfully, Games Radar was thinking along the same track as me and put together a list of 15 of gaming’s most famous crossovers. There are a couple of obvious ones like the Capcom VS fighting titles and Kingdom Hearts, but there are a few in there that I’m puzzled over how they got the green light.

How many of these mash-ups have you played? Are you going to try Pokemon Conquest? What crossovers would you like to see in the future?

Source – Games Radar

Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut DLC Arriving June 26

mass effect 3 extended cut dlc release date

After a couple months of silence, BioWare has finally dropped the release date for the Extended Cut DLC for Mass Effect 3, and in a pleasant surprise it will be coming out next Tuesday.

So, what does the Extended Cut DLC contain? You can check out the Mass Effect website to get the whole lowdown, but here’s what you need to know about the DLC.

The Extended Cut expands on the endings of Mass Effect 3 through additional scenes and epilogue sequences. It provides more of the answers and closure that players have been asking for. It gives a sense of what the future holds as a result of the decisions made throughout the series. And it shows greater detail in the successes or failures based on how players achieved their endings.

So, just to clarify, the Extended Cut does not change the current endings, but just fleshes them out, which is something that they could benefit from. The Extended Cut is a whopping 1.9GB as well, making it the largest chunk of downloadable content for the Mass Effect series to date. The best part is the price tag, which is zero dollars and zero cents.

Next Tuesday will determine whether or not the Extended Cut actually changes things for better or worse, but what do you guys think? Are we in for another wave of disappointment? Will we have to re-retake Mass Effect? What do you want to see in the Extended Cut, bearing in mind that it just builds upon the established endings? Go!

Source – MassEffect.com

Final Fantasy: 25 Years of RPG Greatness

Black Mage

A couple of days ago, one of gaming’s greatest franchises hit a very special milestone — Final Fantasy turned 25 years old. It’s hard to believe that a quarter of a century ago, series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi released what he believed to be his swan song, the game that would end his career as a game developer. Much to the delight of millions of RPG fans, that turned out not to be the case.

Even though the series sometimes gets a bad rap because of its current direction and its sometimes head-scratching missteps, it’s hard to argue that Final Fantasy as a whole hasn’t changed gaming for the better. Because of this series, developers dared to bring sweeping, epic stories of magic and empires, rogues and princesses to gamers everywhere. I know that in my own life, Final Fantasy is responsible for some of the more profound moments of my adolescence, from seeing the crumbling urban setting of Midgar to the rolling plains of Ivalice.

Say what you will about where RPGs stand today, its longstanding themes of camerederie, friendship and redemption were uplifting then and still are today, in a way that most modern games fail to tap into. Those kinds of experiences rank among what I miss the most about the games I played a decade ago, and I’m still waiting for the Final Fantasy experience in today’s generation.

So here’s a salute to Final Fantasy — happy birthday, you old devil. Feel free to share some of your favorite memories and moments in the series. Go!

Update: In addition, OC Remix has released a metal tribute to Final Fantasy I, with dozens of tracks dedicated to the first game’s soundtrack. Check it out.

Review: Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

assassins creed revelations review

A yearly release schedule is a tough notion for any game, let alone one as deep and time-consuming as Assassin’s Creed. We were all pleasantly surprised to get Brotherhood so shortly after Assassin’s Creed 2, but the prospect of Revelations seemed to burn a lot of people out.

Focusing on the later years of Ezio Auditore’s life, the game moves out of Renaissance Italy to Constantinople where Ezio tries to find the keys he needs to get into a secret vault built by Altair, the assassin from the original game. Throwing in new gameplay concepts and an upgraded multiplayer mode, does Revelations deliver or does it fall flat like so many missed Leaps of Faith? Continue reading Review: Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

Today’s WTF: Diablo 3 Digital Copies Take 72 Hours to Process

diablo 3 digital purchases take 72 hours to process

Oh, Diablo 3, will you make it out of the strange lands of WTF-dom? Blizzard’s massively popular RPG may be a success with critics, but the design choices being made even after launch have left players more than a little outraged.

The new Diablo 3 patch 1.0.3 has changed many things for the game, but one of the new side-effects is that purchases of Diablo 3 through Battle.Net will take up to 72 hours to process. Yes, you read that right: copies of Diablo 3 bought online will restrict players to the Starter Edition of the game (limited at level 13 and Act One to the Skeleton King, no Auction House and no online play with owners of the full edition) until the transaction is processed.

Blizzard has tried to do some damage control saying that it will normally take less than 72 hours for the majority, but this turn of events is incredibly strange. It’s not made clear why exactly the purchasing process has to go down this way, but one thing is certain: people are not happy.

What do you guys think about this move? Most of us already have Diablo 3, but what about those of you who are holding out? Will this affect your purchase or is it not really a big deal? Is 72 hours too long a wait considering that you can get to the Skeleton King in a few hours?

Source – Battle.Net

MMO Woes: Have MMOs Already Peaked?

World of Warcraft

Everybody’s scrambling to get aboard the SS MMO these days, abandoning ship from traditional single player titles. Even franchises that are considered hallmarks of single player gaming such as Final Fantasy, KOTOR and Elder Scrolls have dropped their former identities, opting instead to join the seemingly lucrative temptations of the MMO genre. After the success of WoW in the mid-2000s, everybody’s been trying to recreate that same money-producing machine, with mostly mediocre results. Most end up going free to play eventually, which is something that even TOR is having to consider.

So here’s the burning question, then: why has nobody been able to follow in WoW’s footsteps? Because, GameSpy’s Leif Johnson argues, we’ve simply outgrown MMORPGs. In this article, Johnson does a nice job of laying out the state of the industry and digital connectivity in the past and now, and shows why trying to copy the WoW formula for modern games is just developers trying to turn the clock back on gamers. He believes that in an age of instant gratification, social media, mobile and more, it’s just going to take something more casual to be a runaway hit.

This is a question I’ve actually been wondering about myself. I think it’s so interesting that developers consider MMOs to be such a surefire hit that they’ll invest millions and millions into production, when so few have even done well to begin with. Yet new IPs are considered inherent risks? If only one MMO has had the kind of longevity that developers really want, then why does everyone keep trying to do this? What convinced everyone that the WoW formula was the way to go, even almost 10 years later? One glance at the paltry Elder Scrolls MMO shows that it’s just another WoW clone, even when that seems like a surefire way to fail. I guess dollar signs are hard to ignore.

What do you guys think about this? Have we simply outgrown the MMO? Do developers need to find a new way to make MMOs work for a new generation? What’s the new way to do MMOs right? Go!

Source – Gamespy

Stay Frosty with 20 Minutes of Dead Space 3 Gameplay

EA’s E3 2012 press conference seemed prime for backlash, what with the DLC-promoting intro and the stale showing of some of the games, but the negative reception that surprised me most was directed at Dead Space 3. That franchise has kind of a soft-spot in my heart and I felt that many other gamers shared my affection but after the co-op footage showed off a new direction for the game, things kind of went south in the public’s eyes.

Visceral Games just put out a whopping 20 minutes of Dead Space 3 gameplay footage, so you can decide for yourself on whether or not Dead Space 3 is changing for the worse.

So, what do you guys think? It’s just a first glance, but how is DS3 shaping up for you? Will the third title cap off an excellent series? What do you think about the fact that EA has said that Dead Space 3 needs to sell five million copies to keep the franchise going?

Indie Game Receiver Shows You How to Work a Gun

One thing that most shooters gloss over is the fact that guns are fiddly little things, prone to failure as often as function. There’s more that goes into the operation of firearms than your average FPS player would suspect: it’s not just point-and-click, there’s a whole myriad of things you need to check before you can start cappin’.

As part of the 7 Day FPS Challenge, indie studio Wolfire Games created Receiver, a cyber-punk game where it’s just you and your trusty 1911 A1 versus a swarm of robots as you uncover a conspiracy. Maybe I’ll just let the walkthrough explain:

For a game created in seven days, the depth of the gun mechanics is pretty impressive. A bit more work would have obviously helped polish the game but as it stands right now it’s a pretty cool take on the FPS genre. The way that the gun commands light up as you progress through them really helps you learn how to get a gun ready and I appreciate all the small details such as being able to do a brass check. What do you guys think of Receiver?

Source – Wolfire Games