I got the Ace Attorney 3 in the mail and beat it like all the other ones insanely fast because of the addictive gameplay and the amazing storytelling. Here are my thoughts on the trilogy and the three games that make it.

What is the worst game in the trilogy?

After playing the 3 games in the series, the one that I could look back on with confidence and say that the Ace Attorney 2: Justice for All is the worst one. While I admit that the storytelling improves quite a bit and the cases overall have more twists and turns, it is disjointed. I look at the game and each case really has no connection with each other and it makes the second game feel more episodic and with less cohesion. The game also has a distinction of having the worst cast of the Phoenix Wright games, with most of the new cast being forgettable. It also stands that it does have the worst soundtrack in the series with some exceptions. With that said, it has Case 4, which is one of the best cases ever.

What is the best game in the trilogy?

My statement is almost predictable in what I think is the best in the trilogy, it is without a doubt Ace Attorney 3: Trials and Tribulations. The game smashes the second game into pieces and stampedes over the original game. The storytelling is an evolution of the second game and it is a huge improvement. The opening sequence doesn't do a "phoenix wright" anymore and presents the killer, instead showing more about the event which leads to more questions than answers. The original game was great because it presents a bunch of court cases, with the audience being pleasantly suprized with the connection between Case 2 and 3. The third game steps it up 10 notches because 3 out of the 5 cases have to do with each other, with much stronger ties with the previous game. The game feels far less episodic and more like a coherent VERY EPIC storyline. The cast of characters is easily the best in a Phoenix Wright game, the new characters aren't forgettable, very likable and have personality to spare. If you don't know who Viola, Iris, Dahlia, Mask DeMasque, and Bikini you will know when you play the game. It also has case 4 and case 5, which is fanservice heaven, I don't mean "fanservice" in panty shots, but fanservice in terms of characters, events and storytelling. The music is also easily the best in the series by a long shot. The game is also known because it has what is easily the most evil villain to ever grace a Phoenix Wright game, the only way they could beat this is if they put someone even more twisted in the next trilogy.

What would be the best case?

The most intense case in the game Franchise is Case 4 from Ace Attorney 2: Justice for All. From the beginning to the end it was as intense as watching a space shuttle launch or a roller coaster going at 120 mph. It is the most intense one, but not the best one. The best one is without a doubt Case 5 from Ace Attorney 3: Trials and Tribulations. Case 5 has the strongest storytelling and some of the best character development in the series. It answers all the unanswered plot holes from the frist two games, and it is fanservice galore with the best of the best in the cast helping Phoenix Wright go through the saga. In Japan the title is appropriately known as "Magnificent Turnabout" but the english title is poorly named "Bridge to Turnabout" hopefully this gets fixed in the USA edition, since they are allegedly fixing many problems with spelling. The case also features what is the MOST EVIL character to ever grace the saga. It also gives a huge sense of closure with the storyline and gives you a warm a fuzzy feeling.

Other Thoughts

Phoenix Wright

• The Easiest game in the franchise and has one of the stronger soundtracks in the franchise.
• It was also the shortest when you don't count case 5.
• Edgeworth was the main character of development in the game

Ace Attorney: Justice for All

• Worst game in the franchise, felt more episodic.
• Worst soundtrack in the franchise
• Worse cast of characters.
• Much harder than Phoenix Wright.
• The main point of character development is the Fey Family

Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations

• Easily the best in the franchise, the tight knit storytelling also makes it the most epic.
• It is the hardest game in the franchise
• Ironically, it is the only Ace Attorney game I ever played where case 2 and 3 are harder than the last two cases.
• It also uses the Psyche locks a lot more naturally and it flows more than the second game
• It has the best cast of characters and villains
• The main point of character development is Mia, Phoenix, and the Fey Family
• It is also the longest of the Phoenix Wright games.

I make it no secret that I believe that Tales of the Abyss is my favorite RPG released last year. Within the game there is a female character who appears 10 mintues into the game and is easily one of the most important characters. That's right, I am talking about Tear Grants, easily my favorite female lead.



I love her character design by Kosuke Fujishima, the guy who made Oh My Goddess.



In the game she was tought to be soldier, repressing her feminine side. Leaving a cool exterior that doesn't show what she really feels.



The most important part is that she is a really likable character in my eyes. She is calm and comes off a really cold, which changes through the adventure. In the story the characters always talk about her ample....bust line and she generally hates it which makes he even better in my eyes. Tear also is my personal favorite because she exudes sexiness and doesn't wear slutty clothes to show it; which is the opposite from the standard female character in a videogame.

The videogame industry is a very fascinating history. We are at the midst of a burgeoning industry whose history is still being written. There is a wealth of information as primary sources and a mutitude of interpretations. The videogame industry is at the crossroads with the emergence of the Western Gaming Companies. It seems that Japan is staring to notice with articles like this.

Jun Takuechi argues that the Japanese Companies are slow to adapt to the growing market, that they don't try to make enough games that appeal to a global market. He states that the Western companies borrowed and improved many mechanics and even surpassed the Japanese. If that wasn't enough, the Japanese Companies are waning in influence because less and less Japanese games are selling very well. He then says that the Japanese can't compete if American studios if they make games aimed for the Japanese Market.

He should be very well alarmed because this generation is the first time a company like EA studios is making games that appeal to the Japanese. The EA Japanese studios are making Wii games like the Sims Wii, especially for the Japanese market. They are also making games like Sim City, which has a loyal fanbase in Japan. If these Japan only products sell well, you can see many Western Companies start opening divisions in Japan just to develop games for the Japanese market. They don't need to worry about profit in Europe and the USA because they dominate those markets the same say the Japanese had for over 3 generations.

There are lots of parallels with the growth of the Japanese Car in America and the world. America made the car popular, they made the car mainstrean. We looked at the Japanese small cars and laughed at them. Then they came into the market with a focus on reliability and started to take back the industry. It was enhanced with the oil shortages in the 1970's. The American Car industry ignored the Japanese and relied on it's loyal buyers to keep them afloat. Now we see that Toyota is on the verge of becoming the number 1 car company on the planet, ending the 50 year dominance of General Motors.

What lessons can be learned?

The Japanese Gaming industry is focusing on making less games that appeal to a worldwide audience. That is a fact because every year they are selling less and less in the Western Markets. In the same time, in the Western Markets the Western Companies are domiating and getting more and more marketshare. There are many people who argue that the Japanese instead of learning and adopting the Western Game Studios are running away to the Japanese market. This has become apparent with the Release of Tales of the Abyss. Sure it sold 700,000 in Japan, but the best selling tales game was Tales of Symphonia that was released on the Cube. They completely ignore this market and then just release it on the PS2 getting abyssmal sales of 28,000 copies. If they had a more global view, they would have ported it to the Gamecube for the Western Markets. That shows the insular view they are starting to adopt.

While Nintendo is making huge inroads in markets that forsaken them just 2 short years ago, they seem to be the ONLY developer who is making huge strides. SquareEnix has done pretty good but they continue to lose the massive market they once had thanks to games like FF7. It seems every generation that they do less experimenting and they in turn get smaller and smaller markets.

What is funny is that American Companies do have the ability to make Japan-centric games. All they can do is to hire a bunch of Japanese people, add an anime artist, and incorporate western gameplay to make for a high selling game.

The encroaching American Companies can take over the entire gaming world, but first they need to learn a thing from history and try to learn the ins and outs of the Japanese Market. It seems that the ever increasing isolationist beliefs of these companies make Japan ripe for the picking. It is starting to sound like the 1960's all over again.

Is it me or is the online standards of basic English going down the drain. I don't claim to be a professor in English, nor is my English the best representation of the language. What I find quite irritating is the abuse of the English language on the forums.

Here are the rules that are broken all the time.

1. Writing a complete sentence - Subject, Verb, Noun.

Ex: I (subject) drove (verb) off a cliff (noun)

2. Replacing Words with Numbers.

Ex: I h8 th1s, can any1 help me?

3. Punctuation - Specifically run on sentences and lack of punctuation.

Ex: The first post in this thread.

I am not a grammar Nazi because my English sucks, but when I find myself typing better than 99% of the forum I start to worry. Please do me a favor and follow these three rules or I will go absolutely insane.

I had a debate with a certain person in regards to Phoenix Wright, someone I completely and utterly disagreed with. While I had this semi-intellectual debate it had occurred to me that maybe the simple forms of storytelling may be the best form of storytelling in this medium.

I make it no secret, I hate videogame storytelling. Most of them are horrible cliches and it never ever goes to a higher level of storytelling encompassing more complex storytelling elements. What makes it worse is that there are certain videogames that even try to hide terrible writing through unnecessarily complex dialogue. A great example of that is Xenosaga or Metal Gear Solid. These games have terrible writing and even get a little pretentious and preachy by hiding the writing under the guise of complexity. After all, writing and scripting are the fundamental basics. Yet, it is these simple basics were our hobby miserably fails. For example here is a quote from FFX I got from IMDB,

"Summoners challenge the bringer of death, Sin, and die doing so. Guardians give their lives to protect their summoner. The fayth are the souls of the dead. Even the maesters of Yevon are unsent. Spira is full of death... only Sin is reborn, and then only to bring more death. It is a cycle of death, spiraling endlessly."

You notice the problem with this quote? Yes, it says too little with too much dialogue. Isn't it irritating when someone tries to add too many unnecessary words to make themselves sound greater than they really are (yes, before any of you point this out I am very guilty of this). For games, maybe the simple storytelling is the best way to get your point across.

As I was playing through Tales of the Abyss, it occurred to me that the game had a very simple story. The story centers around the meaning of birth, and our destiny. It is a very simple story and a very simple concept. The game struck me as being one of the most engaging gaming experiences last year. How could such a simple concept be so amazingly well done? That is because they likely used this main concept and branched the entire story from this simple idea. As you play the experience you are not talked down to, nor does the game get pretentious by tackling scientific subjects they don't know anything about. In fact, they do the smart thing and create their own world with it's own set of physics, history, science, and lore instead of using our own and getting preachy. That is what makes the game so great, they don't act condescending to the player because the player isn't well versed in Math, Biology, Chemisty, History, Physics, Engineering, Philosophy, and Mechanics. There are many games that are too complex for zero reason at all.

To use my old lady example, this is akin to an old lady who pretends she is young and she wears a bikini like the old days. Instead of an old lady who accepts the fact that she is old. Videogames have crappy writing and crappy storytelling, it is magnified even more so when the videogames try to create more complex storylines to hide the bad writing. That is why I advocate that they use simpler storytelling, because it would force them to work at a common theme and it would also hide the bad writing much better than something that tries to be grand and expansive. Not to mention a simple storyline in capable hands can create great, amazing experiences.

Ever since I was a young girl, I watched anime like Ranma 1/2 that had gender bending. For your information, gender bending is a thematic element where they muddle or erase gender stereotypes. It is done extremely frequently in Japanese anime and manga as a storytelling device to examine gender and sexuality in interesting ways. The two that I find extremely fascinating are cross dressing and actual physical transformations.

Cross Dressing

Hana Kimi (manga): It is a story about a girl who idolizes a track star. She goes to Japan to meet him in person and joins the school. The problem is that he goes to an all boys school. It shows gender bending in the form of the Female lead, Mizuki who cross dresses as a boy.

Otome Wa Boku ni Kosh iteru (Anime): Another story that tells about a boy who crossdresses to fulfill the will of his grandfather. It is based off a hentai visual novel.

W Juliet (Manga): A story about a young man Makoto who wants to become an actor, but his father wants him to take control of a dojo. His father forces his son into a bet that he has to dress up as a girl all through high school and not have anyone find out. His other half, the girl he falls deeply in love with is a tomboy who looks and acts very tomboyish.

Physical Transformations

Ranma 1/2 (Anime/Manga): The most famous example of gender bending is Ranma 1/2, one of the most beloved comedy manga series of all time. It is about Ranma Saotome who fell into a cursed spring and he turns into a girl when doused with cold water, changes back when doused with hot water.

Cheeky Angel (Anime/Manga): This is a story about Megumi who wanted to become the men of all men. Unfortunately his wish wasn't granted the way he wanted so he got transformed into a woman of all women. Her beautiful looks hide an agressive tomboy who is confused about what role she should play in Modern Japan.

Gacha Gacha: The Next Revolution (manga): This one is a simple story about a young man who has a crush on a girl, he doesn't have the guts to confess his feelings to the girl he loves. Then one day after playing a videogame he turns into a girl whenever he sneezes. As he is a girl he learns how to deal with girls (which basically means he learns to be himself) and lots of nudity later they fall in love.

Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden (manga): Not to be too general, but it has a guy who transforms into a girl when he needs to use his magic.

Now I have stated all the examples I could possibly think of in how Gender bending is portrayed in manga/anime my question is why isn't it portrayed in videogames?

Gender bending could help create new stories and new avenues for storytelling. Gender bending is used in lots of media as a force to show social inequality for one sex (most of the time it is women). It also gives us insight into the human psyche and how someone COULD possibly react when transformed into the opposite sex. Since we are all different people, we all would act quite differently to it. An example would be like if a perverted guy changed into a girl, we know he will never leave his room. If a shy quiet guy changed, he may actually change himself as a person because of all this newfound attention that is showered on him. Thus forcing them to be more firm and strong.

What makes this even more interesting is the impossibility of it. After all, it cant be done in real life (yet I bet that many of you guys woundn't mind transforming into a beautiful woman) without surgery. Yet, we all like thinking questions of "what if?" because we all would react differently, but we sure like reading about it.

To go back to my main question, "why isn't this explored in Videogames." I have a couple of possibilities.

1. In America, it would rub people the wrong way - I make it no secret that I think a lot of guys are pigs. In an internet forum you would ask a question ponders why aren't there more female leads and you would get many responses from men saying, "I don't ever want to play as a girl." Now imagine if you take it one step further and transform a guy into a girl. For an RPG the setup could be quite easy. A dashing young prince is transformed into a girl by an evil sorcerer, they go on an epic quest to cure him and change him into a guy. As they go through the adventure he learns the many trials and tribulations women deal with and has a newfound appreciation of the opposite sex. I could see this setup work quite well, even better with Japanese storytelling and the ability to go pretty crazy with the plot twists. The problem is that I could see it rub people the wrong way just because guys have enough problems playing as a girl, imagine how they will react if the guy changes to a girl as a main story point?

2. Girls don't make games - Believe it or not, the people who use this form of storytelling the most is women because it allows them to express what it is like being a girl through a mans eyes. After all, guys couldn't relate to a girl when she has problems. Instead when they change a guy into a girl it makes it easier for guys to relate because some would likely say, "Man, I would have done the same thing." It also allows them to push gender issues like sexism into the focal viewpoint while not being preachy and expressly saying it.

There are likely more reasons, but my question stands, "why non for games?"

As you guys know, I got ouendan like 4 weeks ago. On January 31st, I just beat Ouendan on Normal mode after playing the same level 100 times.

Now I am stuck again, on the same song in Hard mode. I am sure 99% of you that as Ouendan can guess which one I am stuck in. Yes, it is Ready Steady Go, the final freaking level before unlocking Insane mode.

It is not like it is super hard and it is impossible for me, it is just I would screw up the first part with the 12 hit markers at least once and it would make it impossible in the 3rd part to recover it again.

I said it once and I said it again, the Final Level on Hard mode is hard. Now I need to calm my nerves and try to play it again to unlock an even harder mode. Jeez, I am so crazy.

Christian Svensson the Senior Director of Strategy said this at the capcom BBS

"Absolutely. There are many titles that sell hundreds of thousands of copies, but still lack a community with passion about the product such that sequels are still a challenge to get attention for (both with the media and consumers).

AA is something of a phenomenon and the first title has had a sales curve that is unlike anything I've seen in 15 years in this industry. Just straight up, consistant sales (not big, but consistant), month after month, regardless of not being carried by the major retailers. That doesn't happen by accident and is indicative of very active word-of-mouth community support.

When I arrived at Capcom a little over a year ago, this franchise became one of my pet projects. I wanted to grow it organically in the US and to that end, I've been one of the more vocal people internally for its continued support in the US. Its novelty needs to be experienced by more people and I firmly believe that the approach is compelling for a broad audience (fitting perfectly on the DS). Clearly, I'm not alone in my thoughts or we wouldn't have the consumer advocates for the games the way that we do.

The sequel first day shipments are a little more than 3X what the first day shipment was for AA1 US. Mind you, the AA1 shipments day one were fairly abysmal so it's a mislesading metric, but its probably 2X what AA1 should have been. I'd attribute the improvment to the new marketing and sales team, to the fact that AA is a bit more of a known commodity that retail is more comfortable with, the bizarre sales history referenced above for the first title and the passion the community has for the franchise. Again, despite the step up, these are not big numbers, but they are a step in the right direction for the franchise.

Now the marketing you're seeing is a direct result of higher expected sales for this project versus the first. Marketing budgets are ALWAYS a function of expected sales. So if you expect more revenue, you can do larger activities. AA:AJFA is still small, so the budget isn't gigantic, but you'll see a lot more for this title than you did the first one.

At Capcom, we have some mega blockbuster titles (like Lost Planet, DMC4, Dead Rising, etc.) and we have some smaller titles (AA, Puzzle World, Monster Hunter Freedom, etc.). Budgets range in size dramatically. We have no problem with shipping smaller titles and trying to grow franchises organically. I think Monster Hunter will be another great example of a franchise with an incredibly avid community that we're going to want to foster moving forward.

The commonality behind our nearly all of our projects is that we have incredibly vocal and passionate fans. I've worked and/or consulted for many other publishers over the years and I can say categorically, Capcom in a unique position with its fans (well, Sega had a similar fan base about five or six years ago, but I think it's a little different today). These are all people who want what they feel is best for their favorite products and we recognize that. It's our job to work within the financial constraints to best promote and foster each brand community.

I know it's still not quite obvious yet, but the community elements of what we'll be rolling out in the US (and hopefully soon thereafter in other territories) will become central to the marketing that we do. In the future, marketing will be less about placing magazine ads or online ads (they'll still have a place, but not quite as prominent as they were last generation) and more about having a more direct relationship with your consumer.

That's one of the reasons I'm as active on our own boards as I am and sharing some of the details above."

For those of you who are too lazy to read this I will summarize it in a couple of bulletins

-Phoenix Wright has an extremely passionate community that larger franchises would absolutely love to have.

-The unique sales curve is strongly indicative of "word of mouth sales" and it is unprecended in gaming history (maybe in the USA sure, but in Japan Brain Age and Animal crossing sell almost identically to Phoenix Wright)

-It was novel and he believed that it could reach a large audience

-Justice for all will have 3x the shipments of Phoenix Wright

-Justice for all is getting a much larget marketing push because they expect higher sales for the sequel (ruh oh)

-Compares Capcom of today as Sega of 5 or 6 years ago (which is very true)

-A lot of the marketing will be more community based because it was the community that helped make Phoenix Wright a success and Capcom will focus much more creating a direct relationship with the consumer

This year of games had a lot of great releases, some unexpected surprises and some huge disappointments. I have been told I tend to ramble on so I will short and concise as to why I like the games I liked that was released last year.

Tales of the Abyss (PS2) - I said it before and I said it again. Tales of the Abyss is the best tales game in the series and one of my favorite RPG's of all time. It has a very original and unique storyline that has many twists and turns. The characters are very likable with Tear being one of my favorite Female Leads ever in an RPG. The game was made as a tenth anniversary for the tales series and it lives up to it by being the best Tales game ever made.

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GCN) - I will say something that shocks you, I didn't like the game at first. All the stupid fetch quests in the beginning sucked. Eventually the game got really good when you got in the first dungeon. It was then I realized that zelda is zelda because of the dungeons and those jaw dropping moments. The graphics are nice for the cube and Zelda is definitely one of my favorites, too bad she doesn't get more airtime.

Wii Sports (Wii) - I don't have a Nintendo Wii, but when I played Wii sports in my cousins place I fell in love with it. The games are fun and amazingly intuitive. It is great to see people flailing their arms around looking like idiots. Hopefully there is some sort of exercise game because that is killer app.

Gyakuten Saiban 2 (DS) - This is better known as Ace Attorney: Justice for all. The game is incredibly addictive with an amazing storyline. The characters are filled to the brim with so much personality. I hated the OST when I first heard it but it was very appropriate with the game, even going as far as to say I actually like the soundtrack as I actually played it. Case 4 is godly and I look forward to buying the USA release to support my favorite franchise. Gyakuten Saiban is shaping up to be one of my favorite franchises of all time and I look forward to a possible USA release of number 3 and 4.

The Kashinkikan (DS) - This game is a quirky visual novel where you play as an investigator trying to solve the crime scenes. The music is great and the lead character is quite funny. The game has inventive use of the DS touch screen and is quite fun. I wish this game had a USA release.

Elite Beat Agents (DS) - I love this game, the music is great. The game has so much personality and spirit. It is also quite HARD which speaks volumes because I have gotten pretty good at Ouendan lately. If you don't play "your the inspiration" and you don't shed a tear, you don't have a soul.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS) - This game is freaking awesome. The game has one of my favorite Castlevania soundtracks EVER. The cast of characters are quite nice (although Stella shows way too much skin for a villain). The game is very difficult, reminiscent of the older Castlevania games. It also has a Dearth of unlockables after you beat the game.

Xenosaga III (PS2) - I will say this straight up, I hate the first two games. I played through all 3 and I got to say that Xenosaga III is the first Xenosaga game I genuinely enjoyed. KOS-MOS is still my favorite character and the ending was great. Now how about we have a collaboration with SquareEnix and remake Xenogears.

Before you say, why don't you include XXXXX? I would point out that I don't have an XBOX 360, PS3, PSP, or a Nintendo Wii.

A new year dawns and a new wealth of possibilities will come in our hobby, new software annoucements and price drops as most of the new consoles hit the softmore slump.

I already have a DS lite, but I still don't have most of the new consoles. Here are what I don't have and what will convince me to buy it.

Sony PSP - $250 Core pack and $199 stripped down package.

The Sony PSP has a nice lineup, but doesn't have the appeal to me that the DS lineup does. Recently there is buzz about a PSX emulator for the PSP (which is basically piracy) yet I personally don't like the future lineup of the console. Sony seems to rest on their laurels and not redesign the PSP for better battery life and they aren't keen on price drops.

What would make me buy it? A price drop of the stripped down package to $150 or a redesign that uses a clamshell design so that the big screen cant be easily scratched.

XBOX 360 - $399.99

The XBOX 360 has a pretty promising Japanese RPG lineup (on which I base most of my console purchases) but reliability problems and the lack of other Japanese genres other than Japanese RPG's and the huge lack of region free gaming really makes me want to stay away from the console a little bit longer. On top of that I want to see if asian versions of games like the idolmaster can be played on American XBOX 360's.

What would make me buy it? A price drop to $250-300 for the premium package and cooler running, more reliable interior components.

PS3 - $599.99

The PS3 is extemely expensive, needs some time to build 3rd party support and it's exclusives seem to be jumping ship and going mutiplatform. It is a great looking hardware and it is very powerful, but it is also bulky.

What would make me but it? A miracle, simple as that. There is no way Sony will price drop the console by $300 to make it $300 which is what I deem an "acceptable" price for a console.

Nintendo Wii - $250

The Nintendo Wii is a great console that looks like lots of fun. It uses older technology in a sleek package but uses waggle to create a new way to play games. The Nintendo Wii seems to be following the gamecube in the weak 3rd party support and seems to be completely dry in my favorite genre (Japanese RPG's). It is popular in Japan at the moment but it's long term viability is still a huge question mark because it is so far behind the XBOX 360 and the PS3 in the technology curve.

What would make me buy it? A wave of Japanese RPG in Development, better 3rd party support, the ability to buy a black one, and of course Zelda in Super Smash Bros. If the Wii can do all of them I would glady fork over $250 to buy it.

Which one has the best chance of getting bought in 2007?

Without a doubt the XBOX 360 seems to be the one I am likely to buy. It will get cooler running components in Spring 2007 and those components will also greatly reduce cost of the console. The console will also likely get some price drops before next christmas (Maybe $50 or $100). The best part is that Japanese RPG's like Blue Dragon, Eternal Sonata, and Lost Odyssey will be out for the console. Hopefully more Japan centric announcements will happen because I don't care about buying western games with some exceptions (notably Halo 3 and Gears of War) and they will surely push me over the edge in my console purchase.