Reading: Gardens of the Moon, by Steven Erikson
Last movie watched: Star Wars -The First Episode
Playing: Final Fantasy XIII
Listening to: Tarzan Soundtrack (:lol:)
Mood: sleepy

Hello! How're you doing today?

Well, I know it has been a long time since Gamespot updated to the freakish-raptr-achievement-microsoftbootlicking thing.

But.... I still have to comment.
By the way, I guess I said it all with the expression above :P

Yeah. Gamespot's boot licking Microsoft. Everyone got to that point, right?
The little level bar doesn't bug me at all, it's just plain different.
But the achievements bug me. Lord, they DO bug me!

Achievements... Why not a cross-over of achievements and trophies? It looks like Gamespot is being racist with Sony Oo'

Ok, I understand what they're doing. They need people to support the site. They need the money, they need the popularity, they need to resist to the constant fight between website franchises. So they put Microsoft at their side and stickout their tongueto IGN, saying: We have God by our side :P

So, enough of this, already.

About Final Fantasy XIII... I am still in Gran Pulse :| Haven't gotmuch time to play.

This will be short, I am very sleepy, and I am trying to finish Gardens of the Moon, which seems IMPOSSIBLE. Pages are flying by with a snail speed pace.

Cheers!

~Irith

So, I will have to post a note about my opinions because I fear that hardcore fans might hate me for this blog.
--> I do not hate or despise the franchises listed below, nor do I despise or hate the fans of the referred franchises. I will just state my opinion about them in VIDEOGAMING and no where else.

Ok, here it goes.

The other day I went to my regular videogaming store. I was searching some PSP games when I looked to the console section itself. PSPGo, PSP 3000, well, everything was fine. Piano Black, Ceramic White.... and Hello Kitty.

Ok, it isn't a PSP of Hello Kitty. It's just a pack of a pink PSP and a Hello Kitty game. Which doesn't make it better, of course.

And then, right next to the said Hello Kitty pack, was... this one:

Yeah. A Hannah Montana PSP pack. It contains a purple PSP and two Hannah Montana games.

I just can't understand why does this happens. I can't understand. I will tell you why.
We, gamers, shouldn't lie about the true purpose of consoles. And well, let's say that the purpose of the PSP is not quite to entertain young girls and kids. The NintendoDS is more appropriate to that kind of public, offering great titles as Animal Crossing, Nintendogs and a lot more kid-directed interactive games.

PSP has got little of that.

As I said in the beginning, I hold no hatred or despise for Hello Kitty or Hannah Montana fans. Although I fancy none of these two franchises, I can't help but to respect people who do.
What confuses me in these two packs is the next:

I have knowledge of women who are indeed Hello Kitty fans. With Hannah Montana is less often, but with Hello Kitty is quite natural. But will those women buy these packs to play these games, which aren't even well-rated? Won't they invest in other items of their fandom, knowing that they, women, probably won't have the time to play these games and perhaps won't even LIKE them?

Well, putting women apart, the only public who will buy these packs to actually play the games will be little girls.

So.

Imagine that a 6 year old asks her dad a the Hello Kitty pack. Both of them go to the store, daddy is glad to answer his princess' request and they both go home, the little girl with the pink console in her hands.
The girl, having a lot of free time, will probably finish the game quickly.
Having finishing the game, the girl will look at her daddy and say: dad, let's go buy more Hello Kitty games.
And daddy will say: Well, honey.... they don't sell more Hello Kitty games. But I can buy you the Hannah Montana games.
And the girl answers: Well daddy, I don't like Hannah Montana.
Daddy's response: Well sweetheart, the only games I can give you next are probably God of War and GTA.

You understand what I mean? A girl who buys a PSP just to play the game within the pack is just wasting money. There are no games for kids on this console! Of course, you have Locoroco and Patapon, but beyond those, there's little choice.A 6 year old won't play Godof War or even Final Fantasy, and I doubt that even Patapon is appropriate.

Do these packs evensell successfully?

I would like to know your opinion on this. It's something that really confuses me.

Cheers!

~Irith

Reading - Gardens of the Moon, by Steven Erikson
Last movie watched - Lord of the Rings (again... xP)
Playing - Final Fantasy XIII
Listening to - Bon Jovi
Mood - Relaxed :)

Hello everyone, how are you doing? :)

I just want to wish you a wonderful easter and for those who have vacations from school like me, I just want to say "Don't waste it up!" :P

So, as you can think, to have two weeks of free time is the best thing that can happen to a person with all sort of interests like me.
In FFXIII I just arrived at Gran Pulse (25 hours of game) and received the Loremaster Trophy, consequently gaining the Sazh theme for the PS3.

I recently had a guitar and piano audition, and it went just fine :)
Sunday I got to my friend's house to go for egg hunting :P We dyed some eggs and made some funny videos with all the family. My friend's brother is ten years old and he was so happy. I was watching him and thinking: "Well we're never too old to have some fun :D

By the way, yesterday I was surfing the net in search of some quotes for a school work and I found these ones. I just wanted to share them with you:

Art is the only way to run away without leaving home. ~Twyla Tharp

Humor is... despair refusing to take itself seriously. ~Arland Ussher

If you kick a stone in anger, you'll hurt your own foot. ~Korean Proverb

True friends stab you in the front. ~Oscar Wilde

A smile is a curve that sets everything straight. ~Phyllis Diller

Art is the colors and textures of your imagination. ~Meghan, Los Cerros Middle School

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal. ~From a headstone in Ireland

Humor is a reminder that no matter how high the throne one sits on, one sits on one's bottom. ~Taki

A smile is the universal welcome. ~Max Eastman

Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it. ~Jacques Prévert

Passion is universal humanity. Without it religion, history, romance and art would be useless. ~Honoré de Balzac

I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it. ~Frank A. Clark

Friends are those rare people who ask how you are and then wait for the answer. ~Author Unknown

Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one. ~Stella Adler

When painting, an artist must take care not to trap his soul in the canvas. ~Terri Guillemets

Anger is a bad counselor. ~French Proverb

An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind. ~Mahatma Gandhi

A warless world will come as men develop warless hearts. ~Charles Wesley Burns

A smile confuses an approaching frown. ~Author Unknown

I just posted this to say hi. Hoping everyone is alright and having fun

Cheers!,

~Irith

Good evening guys, how're you doing?

Here are 11 things about me :P

1 ) I play the piano and the guitar;

2 ) My biggest passion is writing;

3 ) There's nothing I love more then to wake up early, go outside, and take a lot of good pictures with the early sunlight.

4 ) The first videogame I ever played was The Sims.

5 ) The only thing I drink is water, milk and tea :D

6 ) I love to go for walks on the beach while listening to some sad music.

7 ) My favorite bands are Nightwish, Within Temptation and Epica.

8 ) I love to wear white and pastel colors, and my hair looks different everyday :P

9 ) I never met anybody who loves life as much as I do ;)

10 ) I have a brother who's 11 years older than I.

11 ) I love to read, mostly fantasy. I devour books, and when I'm really into one, I can read 500 pages in two afternoons.

***

I am playing Final Fantasy XIII right now. Just got into Nautilus, City of Dreams. I like the game and the characters, although I think it could be less linear :P

Saturday I started playing Moonlight Sonata, by Beethoven, in the piano. I truly enjoy that melody, and was really excited when my tutor told me I was going to play it :)

My best regards,

~Irith

Each month I buy two video-game magazines. One of them is focused on the PlayStation, having reviews and news about the PS2, PS3 and the portable version, the PSP. The other magazine is about videogaming in general, portraying news about every platform and videogaming company. This month, on the 9th March, Final Fantasy XIII was finally released and of course that the editors of those magazines, as well as the editors of videogaming websites such as Gamespot or IGN played the anticipated game and wrote the respective reviews for the sake of their readers. As I was reading the reviews for Final Fantasy XIII, I couldn't help but wonder: Why can't video-games change? First of all, as anyone can see, there are two very polemic subjects about Final Fantasy XIII. One of them is the extremely linear structure of the gameplay (which I agree, in fact) and the other is the structure of the battle system, which is incredibly fast and only permits the control of the party leader. Well, let's head back in time and remember the oldest games of the sequel. One of the most remarkable Final Fantasy games is, as we all know, Final Fantasy VII. Final Fantasy VII featured a turn-based battle system, with long ATB gauges, that sometimes would get on our nerves. You had control of every party member, each one having its own abilities (given by the use of Materia, colorful orbs that contained magic and other abilities). Strategy was inevitable, and the correct use of elemental magic could be the turning-point in a battle that you found impossible to win. As I was playing Final Fantasy XIII, I was surprised by the battle rhythm, and even more surprised about the fact that I wasn't cursing about the lack of strategy in the battle system itself. And then, as I proceeded through the game, I found it incredibly amusing that even if I completely agreed with the horrible linearity of the game, the surrounding landscapes, and the beautiful flowing of movements and the quality of cutscenes were gradually erasing my disappointment about the gameplay. Can video-games evolve? Improve in beauty, equal to movies and reduce on gameplay? And are those changes acceptable? I believe video-games are evolving to the rhythm of the society. Everything is becoming faster, more beautiful. Things are slowly losing what really matters. So should we blame video-gaming companies? For example, if Final Fantasy XIII had another turn-based system, where ATB gauges slowly filled, I think I would die in frustration. The funny thing is that some years ago I was an adept to the slow turn-based systems and would never change it to a faster system. Other thing I praise is the freedom some games can give us. Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Dragon Age or GTA are very good examples of that. Final Fantasy XIII does not give you any freedom at all. You have some short-cuts and multiple dead ends, but it doesn't even compare to previous games, like Final Fantasy VII. Final Fantasy VII, for example, would let you enter houses, shops, talk to people and interact with a lot of objects, giving you a good vision of the world of the game. Perhaps everything will change from now on. With the advance of technology, videogaming companies are really focused in the graphic improvement, and that is making them forget a little bit what really makes us, gamers, love in videogames. That graphic improvement is growing up mainly in RPG's because they're considered cinematographic pieces of art, after all. So, should we accept these new changes? Or should we "rebel" against this new generation of video-gaming? I would like to hear your comments :) Cheers!