I hope you enjoy our podcasts. A new episode of Nerds Without Pants will be coming out this Friday, and new episodes of Backloggers Anonymous and Push Start to Continue soon.
Oh, that's not all of it by a longshot. These are just the more recent games I have a chance of getting to before I move on to new machines.
That works for all of the unplayed PS2 games I have, but the current gen stuff feels more like a burden than part of the collection at the moment. That'll change as I chip away at it and the new systems come out, because I'll probably start seeking out games that I know will be hard to find soon.
In the end, I decided to tackle it though a lottery. I would look at my shelf and be paralyzed by choice, and wouldn't play anything. So I put all of the games into a cup and drew three. They are, in order: Splatterhouse, Sacred 2, and Ratchet and Clank Tools of Destruction.
So I'll be working on those in order between reviews. Playing Metal Gear Rising right now, then it's back to Splatterhouse unless I get assigned Tomb Raider.
FF IV is by far my favorite in the series. Jesse think I'm insane, but I own every American version of the game, and will probably collect the Japanese ones at some point. If you think Zeromus was hard on SNES, you should have tried him on the PSX version from the FF Chronicles set. I've beaten that game more than any RPG and still had to bow out from that fight.
I prefer X for its cast of characters and the strategy that comes with being able to plan out moves many turns in advance, but I loved XII as well. It also had a great battle system, and the world was a blast to explore, feeling almost as vast as XI's Vana'diel. But I didn't like any of the characters besides Balthier, and the License Board system didn't allow for a lot of specialization. By the end of the game, all of my characters were a hodge podge of abilities, which took away from any identity in battle they had.
I think it comes down to games. Yes, all systems have a quiet period after launch where nothing is coming out, but usually we know what's coming around the corner. Of course Nintendo is going to bring out all the old favorites with new games, but I doubt those will be rolling out any time soon. Third parties seem oddly mum on what they're working on, and the back half of the year seems oddly quiet.
Of course, E3 will be here before we know it, and there's going to be tons of people talking about the Wii U then. Yes, people probably be talking more about the PS4 and new Xbox, but once there are confirmed games and release dates for things that people are excited for on the Wii U I expect a massive love in to commence.
It's interesting how many people keep bringing up the console not being there. Nintendo didn't explicitly show the Wii U console when the system was announced. I was under the impression that the GamePad was just a Wii add-on at first.
The look of the console ultimately doesn't matter. Oh, I want to see it, but game consoles by and large look clunky. I never liked the PS2 monolith or the Xbox crate design. The Wii looks so unassuming as to be forgotten right away. I will say that my Xbox 360 slim is pretty sexy, but at the end of the day it's the games and the features inside the system that count.
While I tend to prefer a crafted story with a defined protagonist, I've really gotten into having a created character with this generation. My Commander Shepard is my Commander Shepard, and he looks and acts differently than your Commander Shepard.
Sneen brings up a good point with Saints Row. I played the third game by making a character that resembles Lisbeth Salander from Stieg Larssen books. I gave her a Russian accent and I was impressed with the fact that the voice actress actually read some lines in slightly broken English. It was a great touch that allowed me to connect with my created character better.
And don't get me started on the Smackdown games. I still have save data for Shut Your Mouth and the first Smackdown vs. Raw because I made so many amazing characters. Nothing like a battle royale featuring Spider-Man, Zangief, Paul Phoenix, and Blaze from Streets of Rage...
Nothing wrong with lurking. I like to sit back and let people fight it out most of the time. But thanks for deciding to let your voice be heard here at PixlBit!
