After the expected new-year lull, a trio of interesting games will be released this week. Final Fantasy XIII-2 hopes to address some of the shortcomings of its predecessor. It also adds a Pokemon-like feature, a cute Moogle, and an odd Assassin’s Creed crossover. I’m really looking forward to this one, despite the lack of Reona Rewis. Speaking of Assassin’s Creed crossovers, Soul Calibur V adds Ezio Auditore da Firenze to its list of sword-swinging combatants. Last, but not least, is NeverDead. This trippy action game from Konami features an immortal hero with detachable body parts.
Any of you picking up new games this week?
This is the first FF game I can remember that's not a day 1 buy for me. I'm sure I'll rent it to check it out, as the wife will want to. But I didn't care all that much for the first one, and both the "story" and the battle system left so much to be desired that I'm not really interested in diving into that same world again.
I do want to play SoulCalibur V, but it' may be on my wait list due to the fact I've got preorders for SSX and Mass Effect 3 to pay for in the next month or so.
As much as I'd like to get Soul Calibur 5 for nostalgia sakes I'm opposed to the underhanded way Namco handles DLC. Buying a 20kb unlock for content on the disc is dreadful.
I'll just stick to SWTOR. I am now Darth Brandon.
… because "Sith Lord Howington" just doesn't sound right.
Actually, it kind of sounds like Vader's evil accountant.
You: “Lord Vader, the intergalactic IRS has targeted you for an audit.”
Vader: “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”
-M
Hahaha.I actually was the first person to take the name Brandon and on Sunday when I earned my Darth title I looked t my diploma and its lack of title was disturbing.Sent from my iPhone 4
Sounds as right as Jeff Vader, no?
[youtube hp69rg6Hdlo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp69rg6Hdlo youtube]
Dude, I delivered your head to a noble family on Alderaan!!
(Wait, that was Darth Bandon. No "r" in there. Hmmm…..)
Never mind.
Never Dead actually looked pretty cool when I saw the box art on Thursday, I probably would have taken it home to play some then but with work all weekend I wouldn't have had time to play it. I think it might be a little bit until I hear of a new game I'm really excited to play (well, a new one at least as I still have some older games to catch up on).
It's…interesting. I remember seeing at E3 and Comic-Con last year and thinking, "You guys are insane. I love that you're insane, but I don't know that insanity will make for a great game."
Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I haven't gotten to play it, but the gameplay vids don't look so good.
I am a weak, weak man. I've been going on for weeks about how Final Fantasy XIII-2 would be the first Final Fantasy game in about a decade that I didn't buy on day one, and yet here I am, the owner of a new copy. Revel in my hypocrisy. Revel I say!!
Have you ever considered running for office?
-M
You know what the one thing all of the people running for President this year have in common? They're all rich. Every single one of them. Romney's filthy rich, but they're all at least millionaires. I'd never have a chance.
Technically, that is not true. Buddy Roemer and Randall Terry are not millionaires.
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/summary.php
I think what you meant to say is that all of the front-runners from the two dominant parties are millionaires. I believe that would be true. Unfortunately, campaigns cost lots of money and that money comes from everywhere. Being a celebrity helps, though.
As a side note, I love how a lot of Republicans bash on Ron Paul because of his "crazy" stance on foreign policy, yet his top three largest contributors come from individuals in the Army, Air Force and Navy.
-M
The real problem with Ron Paul is that the idea that this country needs an even more Laissez-faire approach to economics when all evidence points to the greed allowed by that approach being the core cause of the economic collapse, which shows a pathological denial of reality on his part. But the other Republicans can't call him crazy with regards to something that they're just as off kilter about as he is.
And the really funny part is watching them all form a circular firing squad around Mitt Romney, feigning outrage over the way he handled his business at Bain Capital, while simultaneously arguing that we need less regulations of Wall Street, not more. Irony much?
Ron Paul hates the Federal Reserve Act. I can't disagree with him on that.
I could actually write an entire book about this topic, but he's no Ayn Rand if that's what you're getting at. What he is advocating is actually Austrian economics and one of the reasons he is so popular is because he actually predicted the economic collapse and actively spoke out AGAINST its perpetrators- warning us (and Congress) of the impending dangers of loose credit and easy money, often on the House floor.
Because Austrian economics is a foreign concept to so many people, they do not understand that in a truly free market, the consumer (not corporations) is king. The problem we have now is what Paul refers to as "crony capitalism" in which a few industries or companies try to "game" the system by influencing policy through lobbyists that have proven to be successful (especially in the large banking industry). The result of this toxic phenomenon can be seen through most of the social ills we are experiencing today. Dr. Paul is a staunch enemy of this corrupt system and will fight to end it because that is what he has always done. This is why those in power never want to see him as President or member of Congress. They know he's actually serious about ending the "gravy train".
Dude, I know where you're coming from because as little as about five years ago, I was thinking and believed the exact same things you are talking about now. But then real estate blew up, the market crashed and I was very curious about this phenomenon more than anything I've ever wondered about before. So I dove head first into finding out what happened and how to make sense of it all. What I ultimately found out was that there were people who saw this coming (quite a few, actually- Dr. Paul is one of them) and I found a common thread amongst all of these people warning us (pre-2007) and it was Austrian economics. The more you read about this, the more the veil gets lifted from your eyes.
http://mises.org/
Read anything under their literature section. Most of their books are free or cheap. If you keep an open mind, I promise you won't be disappointed. Economics is super simple to understand, but there is huge money out there to make sure that the masses are as confused and blinded to it as possible.
-M
I knew you loved moogles.
In fairness, my wife got a huge raise at work yesterday (almost 18%), and I bought it for her as a congratulatory present.
(but yes, I'm still going to play it)
NeverDead is just God awful. By far one of the worst games I have played in years.Controls and camera are a nightmare. I didn't give it much time per usual. Never figured out how to regenerate or how to pick up some items, but I refuse to even put it back in and play any longer. There isn't even 1 redeeming quality. Your limbs fall off far too easily and I spent most of the 30 minutes I played trying to pick them back up. Upon an internet search on how to regenerate found that you can make them explode. It'd be nice if the game told me how to do any of these things. At one point my torso got stuck in a wall and I was unable to reattach to it, but again I didn't know how to regenerate, so I just quit.
But it's got that exclusive Megadeth song, so it can't be all that bad!!
(note sarcasm here)
Honestly, I'm not surprised. The gameplay vids made it look like a steaming pile.
Interesting. I'll wait for a demo so I can confirm your thoughts lol.