FFIV DS, part one

Thanks to a tip from Roger, I managed to snag a copy of Final Fantasy IV DS yesterday. I’ve just reached the summit of Mount Hobbs and can, so far, draw the following conclusions:

• The developers were wise to make it different and more difficult; otherwise, this would play out much like the PSone and GBA remakes. This is very much like playing an entirely new game with familiar characters and music.
• The problem with adding voice acting to a 17-year-old game is that people have been mentally pronouncing things a certain way for 17 years. I know a “Cee-cil vs. Ceh-cil” debate has been raging for years, but Dam-cee-an and Rid-ee-a (come on! It rhymes with “chlymidia!”) are new to me.
• Speaking of voice acting, most of the voices have hit the mark so far — particularly Tellah’s. But Kain’s is awful. Renée rightly points out that he sounds 20 years older than Cecil. What gives?
• Voice acting is, understandably, limited to scenes of vital importance (without giving too much away, the introductory sequence, arrivals in Mist and Damcyan and scenes between Edward and Anna get voice acting). I was a little disappointed to see that Rydia’s big scene on Mount Hobbs doesn’t.
• It’s somewhat hard to get used to the new aspects of game play, such as new XP and HP figures for enemies. But the remodeled character and enemy sprites look fantastic — especially the bulbous jelly things.

More as I go.

So, uh…

…Kerry may not be around for a bit, as her soul is currently being devoured by FFIV DS. She assures me that besides the fact that Kain sounds about twenty years older than Cecil does, it’s every bit as sexy as the trailers and screenshots have predicted.

I am, of course, ridiculously jealous. =)

Weeee

I haven’t done much blogging over the past few days because I was out of town for my parents’ anniversary party. I did bring my Wii, which had up until this point never been connected to anything because I still don’t own a TV, and it was a huge hit.

I can’t decide which was better: playing Wii Bowling with my grandmother or watching my parents have a Wii Tennis throwdown…

Two (sigh) more days…

I would love nothing more than to be able to tell you that I bought Final Fantasy IV DS this morning and spent all subsequent subway rides and work breaks experiencing the glory that is Cecil and company in the third dimension. But, alas, when people say “North American release date: July 22″ they apparently mean “Canadian release date: July 24.”

The countdown to Thursday is on. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Chalk up another win for the XBox 360

On Tuesday at E3, Square-Enix announced that Final Fantasy XIII will be released for the PS3 and - yes, there’s an “and“ - the XBox 360. (Link to an article coming when I’m at home and not subject to pesky workplace internet filters.)

Very smart move on the part of SquEnix, as the PS3 is losing to the XBox 360 big-time everywhere in the global market but Japan.

Epic, epic fail for Sony. It was bad enough that the PS3 goes for an arm, leg, pancreas, spleen, both kidneys and a thyroid, although with their more recent announcement of a $100 price-drop for the PS3 prospective buyers now get to keep their spleens. Those prospective buyers have also just essentially lost one major reason to shell out for the PS3. Sony needs to drop a bomb to counteract this – Metal Gear Solid 4 or Halo 4 exclusive, and I’ll see pigs fly before anything of the sort happens - or else this round will be an epic win for Microsoft.

On a personal note – this gives me one more reason to pick up an XBox 360. Woohoo!

E3 2008

The quintessential nerd’s Mecca is up and running for the season, and as we can’t be there in person (unless one of my journalist buddies feels like latching onto a random media outfit down there and packing me in their suitcase), I’ll be stalking the Intarwebz as I can for updates and the like.

…you know, I was half-serious about latching onto a random media outfit and crashing E3. Any takers?

Seven days until FFIV DS

… yes, I’m a little excited. Anyhow, to begin the final torturous week of waiting, here’s an excellent orchestral performance of Theme of Love.

[edit] Okay, let’s all enjoy the FFVII theme too, since it was pretty much all I listened to while I was in first year.

And finally, lest I be accused of being biased towards the role-playing arts:

Dragon Quest VIII…

…is in my hot little hands and I nearly died of SQUEE when the Dragon Quest and Save Screen themes played in all their beautiful orchestral glory.

So, uh, I shall tell you how it goes if and when I ever resurface.

With cheering, rousing chorus… or not

EA Games inadvertently enters the Ireland-Northern Ireland thing by apparently neglecting to realize that the two regions are, in fact, sovereign states with different national anthems. But more than that, as Wired correctly notes, the correct national anthem of Northern Ireland is God Save the Queen and the country is largely pro-Britain. One of Amhrán na bhFiann’s verses, which isn’t included in the official Irish national anthem, refers to the “Saxon foe.” The chorus, which is the official anthem, refers to the Brits as “despots.”

The latter appears in UEFA Euro 2008 instead of God Save the Queen. Oops.

The company has apologized.

Clash Of The Titans – Handheld Console Edition

For a self-professed “gamer”, I’m terribly behind the times where games and consoles are concerned (but I’d never admit it out loud and would insist that I am simply “old-fashioned” or “traditionalist”). My console of choice for years was – and still is – my laptop, thanks to my GBA, SNES and NES emulators. Up until last December, I’d only owned an NES (it’s like that crazy ancient relative that just refuses to kick the bucket), a GBA that wasn’t technically mine to begin with (it’s Munchkin #2’s – not that she ever played it, or that I ever gave her a chance to do so), and an N64; on my 22nd birthday we (finally) added a PS2 to the mix. That opened up a whole new world of soul-devouring gaming action for me to explore – or at least it would have if first semester’s exams, a month-long trip to the Philippines, second semester, and other such important things hadn’t gotten in the way. Being out of school for the time being hasn’t helped that at all, as I spend what was formerly considered class time sitting in front of a computer scanning documents until my eyes fall out of my head.

But I digress.

With my financial prospects looking up for the time being, I’ve decided to invest in a new handheld console for several reasons:

• It’s another way to tune out my co-workers – I can’t vouch for whether or not “Frick, you just made me die” is a more valid admonition than “Frick, you just made me lose my page”, but it’s more likely to garner an apology than a command to suck it up, princess.
• I can retire the GBA – probably to trade it in or something, as it has a tendency to eat my Fire Emblem save files. And if I don’t retire it, I can give it back to Munchkin #2… who will probably trade it in anyhow.
• Although I’ve got emulators aplenty on my laptop, I can’t exactly whip it out on a whim if I were, for example, busing up to campus. It’s awkward. Believe me, I’ve tried.

I was eyeing the DS Lite originally; I’ve been known to borrow (read: steal) Munchkin #1’s DS on occasion, so there won’t be any of that awkward “where the frick are my buttons?!” fumbling that usually comes with handling a new console. A friend of mine recently proposed an alternative: the sleek, sexy, shiny PSP. “You gotta get one,” he says, in a way that subtly implies that if I don’t he’ll disown me. Decisions, decisions.

I did a bit of research, but as the original PSP vs. DS debate is a bit outdated by now, the following ramblings are based more on my personal experience and preferences. Ahem…