Raymond Padilla

My Favorite Screenshot of 2012

This image from Final Fantasy Dimensions is my favorite screenshot of 2012 (so far). I don’t remember many Japanese RPGs that use the word bunghole. That’s funny. Pirates are also funny (blame Captain Jack Sparrow for that one). Imagining that the pirates in Final Fantasy Dimensions are constantly using the word bunghole the way that Beavis does when he’s Cornholio mode? That’s frickin’ hilarious! This little bit of dialogue made a great game that much more entertaining. (And yes, part of the reason I found it so funny was that it was like 4:00AM or something when I read it.)

Final Fantasy Dimensions Prologue Has Me Hooked

I recently finished the prologue to Final Fantasy Dimensions and I want more! Allow me to back up a moment and give you some background info on the game. Final Fantasy Dimensions is similar in style to Final Fantasy V in terms of looks and gameplay. It features a job system, which I love from FFV and the numerous Final Fantasy Tactics games. Dimensions was originally released as an episodic mobile-phone game in Japan from 2010-2011. For the North American release, the game is divided into a free prologue and four chapters. Chapter one costs $2.99, while the other chapters cost $9.99. The whole shebang can be had for $28.99. The game is available on iTunes (universal app, thank Shiva) ~~with a Google Play (Android) release coming soon~~.

The prologue — which, let’s face it, uses the tried-and-true “first one’s free!” model employed by drug dealers for decades — gives you a basic feel for the game. It’s pretty much what you’d expect from a 16-bit RPG. You run around, engage in lots of random battles, find treasure, and crawl through dungeons. It gives you a feel for the controls and basic combat. The action stops after a boss battle, which is sadly right before the job system is introduced.

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The even sadder part is that the other chapters aren’t yet available due to technical difficulties. For job-system marks like me, this is frustrating. I know I’m going to enjoy this game and I want to play more now! Hopefully the issue will be resolved soon or I’m going to march down to Square Enix USA headquarters with my replica Buster Sword (I don’t really have one, but I totally want one…though I probably wouldn’t be able to lift it).

There are eight jobs that can be selected in the early going: ~~freelance videogame writer~~ jobless, warrior, monk, thief, red mage, white mage, black mage, and summoner. As the game progresses, the characters are divided into two factions: the warriors of light and the warriors of darkness. Additional jobs are unlocked for each side in later chapters. The warriors of light jobs are dragoon, bard, memorist, paladin, and seer. The warriors of darkness jobs are ranger, dark knight, dancer, ninja, and magus. Skills from different jobs can be used in conjunction for “fusion” attacks, adding an additional layer of strategy to the traditional turn-based combat.

Visually, the game is unimpressive. This wasn’t a surprise considering that the source material is a mobile-phone game from 2010. The music, however, was a pleasant surprise. The tracks I heard throughout the hour-long prologue were very, very good. I’m looking forward to hearing more.

If you’re an old-school RPG fan — especially one that loves job systems — then Final Fantasy Dimensions is tantalizing. It looks like it will be a great game in the vein of Final Fantasy V. Yes, it’s relatively expensive compared to other Android and iOS games, but many gamers will find the price worth it. Just from the prologue, I’m confident that I will enjoy this game and fairly sure that the $28.99 price will be worth it. Now where the hell are my additional Final Fantasy Dimensions chapters Square Enix?!?

Razer BlackShark Now With 100% More Razer

Remember that Razer BlackShark Battlefield 3 headset I reviewed earlier in the month? It will be available in September in the traditional Razer green and black colors. It’s the same cool-looking headset with helicopter-headset looks and high-quality materials, but without the Battlefield 3 branding and the orange color scheme. It will retail for $119.99, which is $10 lower than the original.

I love the looks, construction, and comfort of the BlackShark. The sound response is great for games and action movies, but might be too bass heavy for certain types of music and movies. While I’m a fan of the orange color scheme, the black and green looks pretty sweet and is distinctly Razer.

Any of you interested in picking up the Razer BlackShark gaming headset in green?

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

It’s going to be a Facebook and iPad weekend if everything goes as planned. I just finished the prologue to Final Fantasy Dimensions and love where it’s going. The gameplay is straightforward FF so far and the music is really good. The game features a job system and I frickin’ love job systems. The kicker is that the game’s chapters aren’t available for purchase yet due to some technical difficulties. Hopefully that will sort itself out later today or some lovely PR people can hook me up with codes. I love job systems!!!

On the Facebook side, I was stuck in Outernauts for a few days because of a bug, but it was fixed yesterday. I’m still a little stuck because I need some items that can only be obtained through friends or premium currency. This wouldn’t be an issue if some of you played the game with me (guilt trip!). I’m going to level up my b-squad over the weekend and hope some friends give me the stalactites that I need. If I don’t have them by Sunday, I might bite the bullet and buy some more premium currency. I love Pokemon-like gameplay!!!

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?

Today’s Poll: The Metal Gear Solid Movie and You

My fine friend Mark was at the Metal Gear Solid 25th anniversary jammie and tweeted that Avi Arad will be producing a Metal Gear Solid movie with Columbia Pictures. Is this something you’d be interested in? Obviously the Metal Gear Solid franchise is tremendously popular and has a global appeal. There are certainly many gamers that would love to see MGS: The Movie. MGS detractors ding the games for their lengthy cutscenes and will say that designer Hideo Kojima has already made several movies through his games.

What say you?!? Please vote in today’s poll and explain yourself in the comments section!

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Dave Oshry Talks Rise of the Triad

Here’s a conversation I had with my pal Dave Oshry, marketing director for the upcoming Rise of the Triad remake. Originally released in 1995, Rise of the Triad was a cult classic first-person shooter that was the victim of bad timing. It had its share of ardent fans, but being sandwiched by Doom II and Quake was…unfortunate. The great news is that Interceptor Entertainment is taking the fast and funky gameplay of Rise of the Triad and updating it with Unreal Engine 3 graphics. Learn more about the game as Oshry talks about:

Why gamers — new and old — should care about a Rise of the Triad remake
How Facebook and Skype played integral roles in making this game happen
A videogame journalist that called out Dave on this remake back in January
Reactions to the game’s unveiling at QuakeCon 2012
Why it’s being made with Unreal Engine 3

Obviously I’m biased because I like Dave, but I think we had a fun chat that’s worth listening to. He’s a charming and dynamic speaker…and I’ve never told him this, but he’s like the Zack Ryder of videogame marketers. Rise of the Triad was loads of fun back in the day and I can’t wait to play a modern version of this classic shooter. Check out the interview and let me know what you think (please!).

No Date For Verizon Galaxy Nexus Jelly Bean Update

I love my Samsung Galaxy Nexus. While the specs aren’t cutting edge, it’s a great phone that runs the latest version of Google Android (Jelly Bean)…at least, that’s what my GSM Nexus does. My CDMA Nexus on Verizon is a different story. It’s still running Ice Cream Sandwich. While ICS is much better than its predecessor, once you’ve used Jelly Bean, it’s hard to go back. When I bought my CDMA Nexus back in December, I was under the impression that it would get fast updates just like the Nexus One and Nexus S did. That’s not the case with the Verizon Nexus. The company has been handling updates in a pathetically slow manner and it doesn’t look like things are going to get better any time soon. A Verizon CSR just emailed me the following:

I scoured our database for ANY sort of information I could shoot your way, but I hate to say, there is no tentative date for the Jelly Bean update. This truly is not the answer I ever prefer to give as it doesn’t provide much confidence in our equipment. I can say we have continually contacted the Equipment Compliance team which is an amalgam of Verizon Wireless and Google technicians to at least provide a rough date. However, they are still not able to indicate anything concrete at the moment.

Many times the hold up for any software update comes from the testing on the devices. GSM (for ex/ AT&T) phones operate differently than CDMA (Verizon Wireless, Sprint) phones and I’ve found historically that CDMA phones tend to take longer to test. Asides from that I see no other reason for a delay. Again, I’m terribly sorry this is still happening, and rest assured I have used your verbatim in the latest feedback to the Equipment Compliance team. In the meantime, I thank you for your patience in response to your email, and I hope you have a great rest of your day!

The pickle is that Verizon’s LTE coverage is awesome. The speeds and latency are fantastic. I don’t want to give that up on my primary line. Having said that, I’m annoyed enough at Verizon that I’m hoping that other companies will have more robust LTE offerings when my contract is up in 2013. Perhaps I was being naive, but I feel deceived by Verizon. Its version of the Galaxy Nexus is great, but it’s not really a Nexus phone…and it doesn’t look like it will be treated like a real Nexus phone any time soon.

Mercia: PlayStation Home’s Free-to-Play RPG

Mercia: Fractured Realms launches tomorrow on PlayStation Home. This free-to-play RPG takes your PlayStation Home avatar and puts it in a lovely sword-and-sorcery setting. Players can choose from ranger, fighter, and defender classes. Beating up baddies and hoarding treasure can be done alone or with friends. Naturally, there’s spell casting, weapon crafting, and armor customization to enjoy. Given the popularity of Home (yes, I know that most of you aren’t fans), Mercia has a ton of potential. It could be a WoW-ish hit and I can see Sony making a killing with premium options.

Of course I want to get your take on Mercia: Fractured Realms. Is it something you’d play? Do you think it will do well with the PlayStation Home crowd? Does the name make any of you think of this stupid song? Most importantly, are down for an RPad.TV Invitational adventure with Mercia?

Coffee Talk #513: Cheating and eSports

Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon, and Lance Armstrong recently reminded us that cheating (or alleged cheating) is an unfortunate part of competitive sports. With so much money and prestige on the line, people are always looking for an edge and they sometimes cross the line from being a competitor to being a cheater. The same holds true for competitive gaming and eSports.

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, being sad about canceled trips to Japan, getting excited for Sergio Martinez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., or Lindsay Lohan’s career as a master thief, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

The recent scandal at the MLG Summer Championship has brought attention to cheating and unsportsmanlike conduct in eSports. MLG has accused Team Curse and Team Dignitas of collusion in the League of Legends finals, stripping both teams of ranking and prize money earned at the event. (There’s some debate on whether the two teams were actually cheating or just not being true to the spirit of MLG, but let’s shelf that for a moment.) Some people were surprised that cheating and gamesmanship happens in eSports. I was surprised that they were surprised. If there’s money, pride, and prestige at stake then you can count on people going too far to win. Some people are simply wired that way. It’s human nature.

Anyway, I wanted to get your take on cheating in eSports. Are you surprised that it happens? What do you think of the situation at the MLG Summer Championship? Would you call it cheating or two teams being wankers? Why can’t all competitors exemplify the purity of sports the way that Derek Jeter does?

PlayStation Vita System Software 1.80 Available Today

PlayStation Vita owners will be treated to a hefty system update (1.80) today. The new system software includes numerous UI enhancements, as well as improvements to the web browser and maps software. As for games, PSone Classics will now be playable on the Vita. These titles will go out on a rolling basis that differs from territory to territory. The PlayStation Blog lists the following PSone Classics as playable on Vita in North America today:

Arc the Lad
Cool Boarders 2
Final Fantasy VII
Hot Shots Golf 2
Jet Moto
Syphon Filter
Tomb Raider
Twisted Metal 2
Wild Arms

MonkeyPaw games sent out its own list of PSone Classics playable on Vita, but did not specify regional availability:

Alundra
Vanguard Bandits
Arc the Lad
Arc the Lad II
Tomba!

As a JRPG mark, I’m psyched to see these games available for Vita. It makes me want to take a trans-Pacific flight to play them (so that I can claim that the games aren’t taking me away from work that I can get paid for).

Anyway, check out the video below to see all the improvements in Vita system software update 1.80. If you haven’t already picked up a Vita, do any of these additions make you more likely to buy one?