The Brooklyn Nets web site posted pictures of the herringbone-pattern basketball court at the new Barclays Center. The floor is unusual. I suspect that purists will think that it’s ugly, while modernists will admire its unique aesthetics. What do you think? Please vote in today’s poll and share your thoughts on the Brooklyn Nets’ court in the comments section!
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So I’ve been meaning to write a proper review of Final Fantasy Dimensions for iOS. The problem is that the game is really long and really engrossing. I just started the fourth and final chapter this morning. My game clock at the end of the third chapter was a shade over 54 hours. I’ve maybe spent seven hours grinding to get certain abilities. Aside from a few spots where the random encounter rate was obnoxious, I’ve loved every minute of Final Fantasy Dimensions. Here’s a (not) review (and lots of screens) of three chapters and 54 hours of the game.
Final Fantasy Dimensions’ story is a straightforward JRPG tale. There’s an evil empire. The world is in peril. It’s up to you and your companions to stop the evil empire and make the world safe. What brings the story to life is the surprisingly fun, diverse, and well-written characters. Sol, for example, is your typical overanxious and youthful hero; unlike other games with overanxious and youthful heroes, Sol’s companions have no problem telling him that he’s an idiot. Alba seems like the sassy support character you’ve adventured with in countless games, but her lines are consistently funny and it’s later revealed that she’s much more than she seems. The characters archetypes are familiar to anyone that’s played several JRPGs, but they’re written in a way that makes them stand out and feel fresh.
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The adventure hops back and forth between two parties of four — the Warriors of Light and the Warriors of Darkness. From a storytelling perspective, it keeps things interesting because there are two distinct, but related, adventures happening at the same time. You get to spend a chunk of time with one crew before adventuring with the other. From a gameplay perspective, each team has jobs that are unique to their party. So even though the core gameplay is the same for both, the powers and abilities exclusive to each side makes their respective battles feel distinct.
Fueling the battles is a slick version of the Final Fantasy job system. You can sculpt any character into any type of warrior you want them to be, though each character has stats that are better suited for particular jobs. There’s just a ton of depth and variety with the job system. You can craft a DPS warrior, a tank, a DPS mage, a support character, and any combination you can think of. You can go with straightforward jobs like warrior, black mage, and white mage. Or you can experiment with more esoteric classes like bard, dancer, and ranger. The ability to equip primary abilities and secondary abilities from other jobs your character has studied gives the game a ton of replay value. Old-school JRPG fans will have a blast playing around with the Final Fantasy Dimensions job system.
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Fusion abilities add an extra twist to the customary job system. These abilities are discovered when a character uses an ability while its partner ability is equipped. For example, a white mage that casts “haste” and is armed with the bard’s “agility song” ability will discover the “hastega” fusion ability. The discovery happens randomly, with the only requirements being that one of the abilities has to be used while the other is equipped. This gameplay mechanic gives each character three layers of abilities: the primary abilities native to their active job, the secondary abilities that are chosen, and fusion abilities that permanently stay with the character once they’re learned. It’s another layer of depth and variety on top of a system that’s already deep and diverse.
So I’m digging the story and characters. I’m absolutely loving the gameplay system. When I wrote about the game in Coffee Talk #515, I mentioned that its music is wonderful. Everything is peachy, right? Not quite. I have some minor problems with Final Fantasy Dimensions. There are some stretches where the random encounter rate is annoying as hell. Sometimes the game won’t let you move for two seconds without triggering a random battle. There were a few occasions when I turned the game off because the random battles were pissing me off. The touchscreen d-pad can also be finicky (I’m playing on a 2012 iPad, btw), leading to imprecise movements. A couple of steps in the wrong direction coupled with an annoyingly high random encounter rate makes for some frustrating times in Final Fantasy Dimensions. That said, these issues are easily overlooked because the game excels in so many areas.
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Final Fantasy Dimensions is an absolutely blissful game for old-school JRPG fans. It’s easily my favorite game of 2012 so far (keep in mind that I’m a total mark for the FF job system). When I’m not completely absorbed by the world of FFD, I find myself thinking about longtime Final Fantasy fans that haven’t enjoyed the last few installments in the series. Final Fantasy Dimensions is perfect for them. It offers many of the qualities that people love about the ’90s FF games. Even if the final chapter is utter crap (and I’m positive it won’t be), the 54 hours and three chapters I’ve played of Final Fantasy Dimensions have been delightful. To borrow a line from those old NBA commercials — I love this game!
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Today’s column was inspired by a chat I was having with RPadholic Tokz_21 on the RPad.TV Google+ Messenger group. On last night’s WWE Monday Night Raw, wrestling legend Jerry Lawler suffered a heart attack on air. It’s sad and I hope everyone sends positive vibes to Jerry, hoping for a speedy recovery. Now to be completely honest, initially I wasn’t sure if it was real or if it was an angle. Pro-wrestling can be funny that way. The writers have no boundaries and have crossed several lines over the years. Would an angle involving Lawler’s age (he was in the ring that night too) be out of the realm of possibility? Of course not. Sadly, the heart attack was real, but the whole thing had me thinking about times when I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t in pro-wrestling…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, wishing that Andy Murray becomes a one-hit wonder, Emma Watson searches leading to computer viruses, or iPhone 5 fever, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Today’s column was inspired by a chat I was having with RPadholic Tokz_21 on the RPad.TV Google+ Messenger group. On last night’s WWE Monday Night Raw, wrestling legend Jerry Lawler suffered a heart attack on air. It’s sad and I hope everyone sends positive vibes to Jerry, hoping for a speedy recovery. Now to be completely honest, initially I wasn’t sure if it was real or if it was an angle. Pro-wrestling can be funny that way. The writers have no boundaries and have crossed several lines over the years. Would an angle involving Lawler’s age (he was in the ring that night too) be out of the realm of possibility? Of course not. Sadly, the heart attack was real, but the whole thing had me thinking about times when I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t in pro-wrestling.
When Owen Heart died due to a harness mishap during the Over the Edge PPV, I initially thought it was an angle. He was playing The Blue Blazer, a masked idiot that thought he was a superhero. He was actually supposed to have a botched fall to the ring, keeping with his character. Sadly, the harness released him too soon and he suffered a tragic fall. I distinctly remember watching the PPV at my friend Justin’s place and arguing that it was a work. It wasn’t until the cameras completely pulled to the crowd that I was aware that something very bad and very real happened.
On a lighter note, a pair of WCW angles vexed me for a long time. The first involved Brian Pillman. In an “I Respect You” match against Kevin Sullivan, Pillman suddenly bailed with the words, “I respect you, booker man!” I knew that Sullivan was a WCW booker, but this was something that was never said on air. Pillman was fired and that’s where things got cloudy. Did he really get fired or was it part of a storyline? Former WCW exec Eric Bischoff said it was part of an angle and that Pillman was supposed to develop his “Loose Cannon” character in ECW before returning to WCW. Pillman said that he wanted to get fired and had no intention of going back to WCW. He ended up going to ECW and eventually brought the “Loose Cannon” persona to WWE.
Kevin Sullivan was involved in an angle with his wife, Nancy Sullivan, and Chris Benoit. The story was that Benoit, who was feuding with Sullivan on TV, took things too far by stealing his wife. Sullivan booked it so that Nancy and Chris traveled together, ate together on the road, and stayed in the same hotels. Art imitated life, with Nancy and Chris actually falling in love and eventually getting married. For a long time, I thought it was just an elaborate angle. It wasn’t until kayfabe went out of style that I realized, “Oh…that really happened.”
Anyway, those are some wrestling moments where I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t. I’d love to hear about some angles that you weren’t sure about. Please share some stories in the comments section!
Overhaul Games has released a new batch of screens for the upcoming Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition. A remastering of one of the greatest PC RPGs of all time, this game is set to hit Windows, Mac OS X, and iPad this month, with an Android release to follow later. This is the game that turned me into a BioWare fanboy back in the day and I can’t wait to play it again, but with modern graphics. When you have a chance, please check out the screens below and let me know what you think!
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The traditional summer drought has come to a close! Leading this week’s new releases is Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Fighting game fans and tournament players alike are amped for another dose of Tekken action. If you prefer balling to bashing then check out NBA Baller Beats. This Xbox Kinect game uses a real basketball as a controller. Watch Justin play the game and get the skinny from the producer in the video above. Fans of traditional sports games will want to pick up NHL 13. If you’re LTTP on the latest Battlefield game then Battlefield 3 Premium Edition will bring you the game and all the DLC in one convenient package. Lastly, Nintendo’s lovable pink puff celebrates his 20th birthday with Kirby’s Dream Collection: Special Edition.
Any of you picking up new games this week?
David Crane is a gaming icon. He has designed some of the earliest and most influential videogames of all time. Pitfall!, Ghostbusters, and A Boy and His Blob are just some of the titles he has worked on. He was the co-founder of Activision, the biggest and most powerful videogame publisher in the world today. Like Larry Zbyszko, he’s a living legend. With his accomplishments and stature in mind, it’s kind of sad that there’s a high chance that his next project will go down as the first major videogame flop in the brief history of Kickstarter.
The video below is from the Kickstarter page of Crane’s upcoming project Jungle Adventure. On paper it seems like a fantastic idea — the originator of jungle adventure games making a new jungle adventure game with modern technology. With only five days left to go, Jungle Adventure isn’t anywhere close to reaching its funding goal. As of this writing, it has only $28,392 of $900,000 goal. Ouchie.
There’s an odd backlash towards this project. Some people within the Kickstart community think that Crane is asking for too much money. Some indie developers feel that someone with Crane’s experience should be pulling from other sources and that he’s ruining Kickstarter for indies. He isn’t helping his cause either. Some of the things he said in this Gamasutra article can be interpreted in a negative way. Kickstarter has a reputation as this shiny, happy place where the little guy can get money to make his dream project a reality. For various reasons, David Crane’s Jungle Adventure has brought out Kickstarter’s dark side.
Anyway, I wanted to get your take on the Jungle Adventure situation. Are you surprised that someone with Crane’s history is struggling on Kickstarter? Or is the project simply too vague and the price tag too high? Please leave a comment and let me know!
Recently, I’ve had a bunch of Apple-related discussions on message boards that have little to do with technology. I was surprised to find myself in an Android vs. iOS discussion on a boxing forum. I was amused to read several “tablets are awesome” and “iPads suck” posts on a travel board. Whether it was talking about Apple, iPad, iPhone, or iOS, there was one thing that was consistent — people with an irrational hatred for Apple.
If you don’t like Mac OS or iOS, that’s fine, but some of the reasons I’ve heard for people not wanting to buy Apple products are stupid and ignorant. One of my favorites is…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, deciding between plasma and LCD televisions, Ryan Reynolds’ marriage “downgrade” to Blake Lively, or getting excited for Britney Spears on X-Factor, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Recently, I’ve had a bunch of Apple-related discussions on message boards that have little to do with technology. I was surprised to find myself in an Android vs. iOS discussion on a boxing forum. I was amused to read several “tablets are awesome” and “iPads suck” posts on a travel board. Whether it was talking about Apple, iPad, iPhone, or iOS, there was one thing that was consistent — people with an irrational hatred for Apple.
If you don’t like Mac OS or iOS products, that’s fine, but some of the reasons I’ve heard for people not wanting to buy Apple goods are stupid and ignorant. One of my favorites is “Apple forces you to only buy from them!” I’m not aware of how Apple forces anyone to do anything. Does the company have a secret ninja army forcing people to buy music and movies from iTunes? Certainly if you have an iPhone then it’s easier to buy media through iTunes. If you have a Mac then it’s easier to buy programs on the Mac App Store. So what?!? Apple is proving hardware, software, and services that make for a pleasant experience. Besides, that’s not stopping anyone from buying music on Google Play or books from Amazon and using them on an iPad. Apple and Amazon (with its Kindle Fire tablets) have shown that a certain amount of digital content curation is what the majority of consumers want.
Another anti-Apple sentiment I’ve read several times in the last couple of weeks was, “Their ‘It just works’ motto is a scam!” I strongly disagree with knocking the usability of Apple products. I own Android and iOS products. Although Android is my preferred mobile OS, it’s clear that iOS is easier for more people to use. I own OS X and Windows products. Honestly, this one isn’t even close. OS X is just a smoother and more refined experience than Windows.
The funny part is that many of the people I chatted with that blasted Apple products also admitted that they haven’t used one in a long time. So really, the hatred is based on ignorance. There’s nothing wrong with not being familiar with the latest versions of iOS and OS X, but it’s silly to blast Apple products when you don’t know what they offer. I understand having a preference for or being a fan of a particular platform, but I don’t understand why some people feel the need to automatically hate the competition. That kind of logic only works with professional sports (die Red Sox!!!) and sports entertainment (Cena sucks!!!).
A lot of people on the Internetz complain about Apple fanboys, saying that they’re arrogant loudmouths. There are certainly some vocal Apple users and many smug tech bloggers that are unapologetic about their Apple fandom. At least they’re making noise because they love Apple products. Some people call them iSheep because they love practically everything that Apple releases. In many ways, the anti-Apple crowd is worse. They’re hating on Apple and its fans without knowing what the hell they’re talking about.
If you’re going to hate on Apple products then at least know what they offer. At least then you can back up your hatred with knowledge. Be like Mark Wahlberg’s character from The Other Guys. As a youngster, he learned ballet so that he could make fun of the kids that were studying ballet. Dude knew the score.
Since so many of you are big (American) football fans, here’s some space to talk about the latest NFL games. Whether you’re discussing your fantasy league players or are still in awe of the performances of Peyton Manning (N8R) and RGIII (smartguy), please talk it up in the comments section!
Three big companies had three big press conferences this week: Amazon, Motorola, and Nokia. Which press conference excited you the most? Kindly vote in today’s poll and discuss!
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As for me, I’m going with Amazon. Motorola showed off some nice upgrades to its RAZR line of Android phones. I love the design and materials of the RAZR, but my next phone will not have a pentile screen and I don’t like Moto’s Android skin. Nokia showed off beautiful hardware, which wasn’t a surprise because the company always shows off beautiful hardware. Unfortunately, it didn’t have hard dates on availability. Besides, Windows Phone isn’t really for me.
That leaves Amazon. While I’m personally not interested in a Kindle Fire HD, I’m fascinated to see what it will do for the U.S. tablet market. I expect the low prices of the Kindle Fire HD — both hardware and LTE access — to continue the tablet craze. As for the Kindle Paperwhite…I want one now!!!
Now it’s your turn. Please vote in the poll and expand on your answer in the comments section.
While I’m not the least bit interested in the new Kindle Fire HD tablets, I’m terribly excited for the Kindle Paperwhite. This is the e-reader of my dreams! It offers the great benefits of e-ink (fantastic battery life, low eyestrain) with the addition of front-lighting. The lighting scheme isn’t the only exciting thing though. Check out some of the new features of the Kindle Paperwhite:
The last book I read on my iPad was A Dance With Dragons. There were times when I simply had to stop reading because the iPad’s LCD was roasting my eyes. Keep in mind that I do a lot of reading late at night and in bed. The front-lit screen of the Kindle Paperwhite is perfect for me. The higher pixel density and improved contrast are most welcomed too.
The Kindle Paperwhite ships on October 1, 2012. It costs $119 with advertising and $139 without. This is a definite purchase for me and I know that RPadholic smartguy is down for one as well. How about the rest of you? Are you psyched for the Kindle Paperwhite?
