How many of you play RPGs? I imagine a good many people looking at this blog would raise their hand right now. As such, a good many of you have encountered RPGs in which the central character is silent. Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I've never been a big fan of the silent hero. I know they're supposed to be the personification of the player and all that, they almost never work toward that end, at least not with me. For one thing, the silent hero is always male. Being a female, how the hell am I supposed to know what a man would say in a given situation? I have trouble understanding (or for that matter, liking) men in reality, so a male character in a game that's supposed to be me is rather disjarring. Secondly, they're almost always barely out of diapers. I don't know about anyone else, but I hate kids. They get on my nerves more often than not. Third, they're always getting led by the nose. Due to their silent nature, it would look incredibly silly to see them taking the initiative in a major situation. Therefore, he always has someone, usually his overly busty love interest speak for him. While it is funny at times, the idea that the hero is such a milksop is somewhat disconcerting. I'm rather tired of that crap personally. Lastly, they're all generic. They all have the same look: Boy with a bandanna, maybe a jacket, some worn out shoes. Spikey hair is a must. In short, I'm not a big fan of the silent hero. It's just a lazy copout, and I'd be happy to see it go the way of the dodo.

I read a semi-interesting column on 1up about SiN: Episodes recently, discussing the merits of releasing bits of games over an extended period of time. Personally, I hate it. Paying $20 for what I know going in will be an incomplete product doesn't rub me the right way. I tried that with .hack and got tired of it by the second volume. However, the idea of games that aren't as long certainly appealed to me. Being 26 years old, I come from a time when arcade shooters and 2D platformers ruled the day and RPGs were barely allowed access to Western console markets. Those were the days. Nowadays, those shooters are gone, along with the entirety of the arcade scene (with the exception of Metal Slug, of course), the transition of platformers to 3D has led to a somewhat de-platformization of the genre, and more RPGs are released than I have the time or desire to play. However, along the way, the games got longer and longer. Used to be that a password feature was something of a novelty and I could spend a cold-sick day beating Super Mario Bros. 3. Now, memory cards are mandatory (and priced like it), and even the most banal of first-person shooters lasts for 20 hours. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't like this much. This isn't about the amount of time I have. I don't watch television, so my free time is only divided between games, DVDs, and my girlfriend. This is about my frustration at games being too long for their own good. We've all played them. The Area 51s and the Doom 3s and the Legend of Dragoons. These are otherwise good games that should have ended about six (of more) hours before they actually did. It is, of course, one of the many things that have changed in the industry. However, it is also the most nonsensical. With development costs soaring to insipid levels and the level of derivitiveness driving veteran developers and gamers away, shouldn't the focus be on making more compact games that are concise and to the point, rather than dragging games on, torturing what was a beautiful piece of work into something that meets some fictional quota of how long a game is supposed to last? I remember this being one of the blissfully few complaints about Halo when it came out alongside the original Xbox. It was only ten levels, and some of them were merely variations on previous stages. Personally, I thought it was pure heaven. This was a game I could enjoy because instead of stretching their ideas thin, they concentrated on making the best 10 levels that any shooter up to that point had ever offered. I've since beaten Halo at least once in every difficulty, many times on normal, and there are many marathon games that have simply grown tiresome and lay unfinished. This isn't to say that there shouldn't be any long games. I'm having a blast with Dragon Quest VIII and God of War (an early present from a friend of mine), and they couldn't have been the same if they were short games. However, the difference between them and, say, Legend of Dragoon, is that they're constantly encouraging you to play with new and creative monsters, spells, attacks, puzzles. God of War has a kick-butt experience every five minutes, it's amazing. By contrast, most long games simply drag out the gameplay long after it's worn out its welcome, and what could have been an infinitely replayable 10 hour FPS is a 50 hour FPS/RPG that gets put in a drawer at around 45 hours and never looked at again. To game developers, I say this: Form a cohesive synopsis of what you want to do with your game, much like a novelist would outline a book before writing it. Does the content you have in mind REALLY warrent 30 hours of my time? If not, the game needs to be smaller. Form your game around your content, not your content around your game. And if that means putting out a cool little arcade shooter for $15 on the PC, I'll gladly buy it. --unrelated-- I know I said I wasn't going to come back until the 26th, but as fate would have it, no one got the joke I was making with the last post, so I thought it best to explain myself before people started reporting me to GameSpot saying I'd lost my mind. That last post was to poke some fun at the Dubious Honors awards from GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2005. You'll find them all in the order in which they came there, from product placement to dissapointing delays, to fake gangsterism, just go down the list and you'll find it in that last post. For the record, "YUKOASHO'S THOUGHTS ON GAMING: La "blog" official de la jugador lesbiana" translates to "YUKOASHO'S THOUGHS ON GAMING: The official blog of the lesbian player." I was making fun of both "Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie" and "Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose." (Beyond Good and Evil).

Hey all! I just thought I'd drop in for the last blog post before Christmas (though not likely the last post before 2006). There's not really going to be one topic, but rather a good many, based on various things that have happened on Gamespot recently. By the way, I'm sitting here in front of my computer, with the amazing AMD Athlon 64 3400+ and ATI X800 Pro making everything look so crisp and clear, chewing on some Wrigley's Extra and drinking some Aquafina. Yay, Aquafina! *Megumi Hayashibara as Rei Ayanami* The Xbox 360 if finally shipping once more, though in not nearly enough numbers to satisfy the millions of people who have been waiting since they preordered around May or June, let alone the millions more trying to walk in and get it. Logic seems to have flown out the window on GameSpot. The idea that Microsoft would risk losing the potential market penetration to artificially hype their system does not compute, though that seems not to be stoping Xbox-haters and conspiracy theorists. Bill Gates would not find such unwise moves agreeable. *Back to Yuko* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I can't stand stupid 12 year old boys drooling over M Rated games. Yo, my boo is buggin' me ta get offa da computa. I'm a bus' a cap in her. Just to make sure people haven't forgotten the title of this blog, since it's pretty far down, it's: "YUKOASHO'S THOUGHTS ON GAMING: La "blog" official de la jugador lesbiana." Just wanted to make sure everyone remembered. I'm ****** happy to see that EA got ****** over by the NHL. Seriously, I get ****** wet thinking about someone telling EA to ****** the ****** off. Those ****** bastards piss me the ****** off. ****** all of them. Anything to keep the ****** Evil ****** Antichrist from owning the ****** sports genre. The only ****** way my ****** year could get any ****** better is if my girlfriend ****** my brains out while the ****** Rockstar building burned to the ground on the ****** TV. I'm sure you were expecting some deep insight at some point. Though who the heck are you kidding? I'm just gonna ramble on some more, so there! :P Yo yo yo, I'm all over the latest joint from Nintendo and Square Enix, Final Fizzantasy IV. From the bangin' beats to the dope colours, this be one of the best joints to come out on the GBIzzay in a long time. Fo **** u no i liek wen ppl talk liek EA is gonna chnge digital distributon. Dis is a nich makret @ bst. Anyway, it's time for me to sign off. I asked Sarah for Psychonauts for Christmas. Hope it's as fun as people say. See ya on the 26th anyway.

Nothing brings out the drooling, insipid fools like a good old-fashioned system war. Looking at the recent news of Sony's intention to reach six million PSP units, one has to wonder how they figure. There hasn't exactly been a flood of great games on the PSP (Grand Theft Rehash is the only game of any note). Not only that, but you have to buy your movies again to watch them (with a severe lack of any anime aside from a few movies and Cowboy Bebop), the price is obscene, and prospective owners must fork over an additional $100+ if you want to use the MP3 player for more than three songs (or an additional $50 if planning on the $300 giga pack). Compare that to the DS, if you will. It's only $130 without a game, or $150 in the Nintendogs or Mario Kart DS bundles. It has a phenominal library of games native to its own format, and has the only supplimental feature that matters to me, namely the ability to play Game Boy Advance games. The only shortcoming the DS really has is the inability to play Game Boy/Game Boy Color games, but that's a relatively tiny shortfall compared to the PSP's long list of problems. Before talking any further, I would like to make my collection of DS and PSP games clear, so that no one thinks I'm talking out of my rear end. Therefore, without further adeu, I bring to you.... YukoAsho's Handheld Library As of 1:50 AM, on the twentieth day of the month of December, in the two thousand and fifth year of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. (By the way, was that melodramatic enough? I might use it in the future) DS games: Super Mario DS Advance Wars: Dual Strike Ridge Racer DS Lunar: Dragon Song Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow PSP games: Metal Gear Acid WipeOut Pure Legend of Heroes Okay, I'll admit that I've only started paying attention to the current handhelds somewhat recently. However, the phenomenal lineup of games coming up has me set to redirect my funds from the home consoles. Therefore, let us look at... YukoAsho's Handheld Wishlist As of 1:57 AM, on the twentieth day of the month of December, in the two thousand and fifth year of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. (Told you I'd use that again) DS games*: Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time Resident Evil: Deadly Silence Trauma Center: Under the Knife Mario Kart DS Kirby: Canvas Course Metroid Prime Pinball Final Fantasy III Tales of the Tempest PSP games: Popolocrois Megaman Powered Up Megaman Maverick Hunter X Metal Gear Acid 2 (*: Please note that I would put Pheonix Wright in there as well, but certain handicaps prevent me from fully using the voice recognition capacity) Notice how small the PSP list is compared to that of the DS? The reason is simple: The games mostly suck for the system, and show little sign of improving. Why would I want to buy the handheld Grand Theft Auto when the console ones control better? Why would I want a Madden game that has absolutely nothing going for it over the PS2, GameCube and Xbox versions other than the possibility of the system conking out in the fourth quarter because of the miserable battery that it has? Even Resident Evil: Deadly Silence and Final Fantasy III are bringing new elements that differentiate them from their console origins (though admittedly that's not so hard with Final Fantasy III...) What does the PSP offer by contrast? One anime RPG, two Megaman games and the sequel to what is admittedly the most oddball use of a popular franchise in the history of history (though Metroid Prime Pinball does come close... Another subject for another blog, perhaps?). Is there really any comparison to make? The DS, while inferior from a purely technical point of view, is the superior system for video game fans. It has more top-tier titles than the PSP will likely ever have, and is cheaper to boot. It's clear who the winner in this system war is going to be. Before I leave, I have to discuss the whole "DS is kiddy" rant that some have used to justify their allegence to the PSP. Yes, it is true that there are no M-rated games for the DS (Though that is set to change with Resident Evil: Deadly Silence). However, I have to stress that this does not make the system "kiddy." I'll give you an argument I used in a System Wars thread (yeah, I know, I'm insane for even thinking about going there). There is a difference between "kiddy" and suitable for all ages. "Kiddy" implies that there is simply no chance for the game to be enjoyed by someone above the age of 12. Suitable for all ages means that anyone of any age can enjoy the game and be entertained without any reasonable chance of being offended, provided the game is given the benefit of an open mind. Given this distinction, the DS linup is certainly not "kiddy." People who can't enjoy games like Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow or Advance Wars: Dual Strike because they lack blood, breasts and swearing are not gamers. They're simpering, brainwashed mainstreamers putting their money wherever Spike TV tells them to. They are not to be taken seriously, but rather to be pitied for their inability to form complex thought of any kind. To quote Violent J: "I wouldn't trade ten Juggalos for a hundred thousand mainstream fans." I'm sure Nintendo shares Violent J's philosophy.

http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000617071552/ - Iwata was quoted in the presentation as saying: “If we cannot expand the market, all we can do is wait for the industry to slowly die.” - If that is Nintendo's attitude, they will have a very, very hard time of it. I know Nintendo has to look big and strong, but that sort of attitude only comes off as shallow and arrogant. This sort of thinly veiled insult of Microsoft and Sony is low brow, and I'm very dissapointed to see Nintendo taking this sort of "If we don't succeed, the sky will fall" attitude. This just isn't the Nintendo I grew up with. Don't get me wrong: this isn't an attack on Nintendo as a games manufacturer. I expressed my love for the company in my very first blog post. However, this shows Nintendo's famous arrogance and single-mindedness in ways previously thought impossible. Needless to say, I don't agree with Nintendo's corporate ideology of insulting the competition and the industry as a whole. A few things need to be made absolutely clear: 1. It is possible to draw in new players without making gimmicks mandatory. Optional gimmicks such as the EyeToy and the DDR mat do the job just as well. Also good are games that are easy to get into but difficult to master. 2. The reason the DS has outsold the PSP isn't because people are so infatuated with the touch screen. It's just that the PSP has remained stagnant since it's already iffy launch while the DS has gotten new games that people want. If the PSP had a good launch and a steady stream of games people gave a damn about, the DS would have been left in the dust most likely. GBA compatibility also helped the DS greatly. Let me make something absolutely clear: The Xbox 360 will be in full swing by the time the Revolution comes out, and the PS3 will have a much better backward compatibility advantage. The Revolution will not benefit from the alignment of the planets the way the DS has. 3. Just how "casual" are the users of the DS? Yes, we've heard of a few women converted to the DS from Nintendogs, but just how many of the DS' sales can be attributed to that? By contrast, how many DS units have been bought by existing Game Boy fans? Nintendo needs to do some serious market research to see just where the DS is succeeding rather than blindly relying on the "cool gadget" appeal to drive the Revolution. 4. The market will not die because of a lack of casual gamers. The only thing that can kill the industry is the complete lack of niche and family-friendly titles. In this regard, the industry is quite safe. Kids will mostly be introduced to gaming by Nintendo. Many of them will become ardent Nintendo fans like myself. However, many more will move on to the consoles that deliver more games that aren't Mario, Zelda or Metroid. 5. If EA is showing interest, Nintendo needs to be extremely cautious. If EA and other companies flood the Revolution with garbage the way they have with the DS, Nintendo is in serious trouble. Now might be a good time to revive the Mario Club review policy. In short, it's not that I'm rooting against Nintendo. I wish they do well, if only to keep gaming from becoming an "adults only" hobby. However, for Nintendo to succeed, they need to stop acting like they're the saviors of the industry and start thinking of themselves as simply another competitor. In short, Iwata and company need to come down off their high horses.

The comments being bantered about in relation to Hillary Clinton's latest attempt at video game censorship have me thinking. Does gaming really need to pump out gratuitous violence the way it does? And why are most of the people who protest these laws under 17? The reason is that some of these companies - Rockstar in particular - actively market M-rated games to minors. San Andreas ads littered daytime television, including shows like "Hi Hi! Puffy AmiYumi!" even after the Hot Coffee scandal reached its peak. Not only that, but the increase in crappy games that depend on their M rating has risen. For every masterpiece like Resident Evil, Conker's Bad Fur Day or God of War, there seem to be ten crappy games that rely solely on violence, such as NARC (the new one, not the classic), 50 Cent: Bulletproof, Without Warning, True Crime: NYC and Crime Life. Many have complained that the regulation being proposed would compel companies to tone down their content. Would that be so bad? Would it be a bad thing to ensure that only games with the right story, the right gameplay and the right graphics get the M rating, as opposed to the glut of garbage we've seen of late? Not that I advocate censorship. Nothing revolts me more than the State trying to tell people that it knows better. However, the gaming industry has slipped into a downward spiral of senseless, gratuitous violence with little merit story wise. Is that what we want from our videogames? Do we want this glut of mainstream trash that offers nothing but the ability to main and murder? Personally, I could live very easily if Resident Evil, Metal Gear, Half-Life and that calibur of game were the only ones that could survive an M rating. A rebirth of T and E rated games would result in more creative games, and I wouldn't totally mind that.

I've heard many people bemoaning the increase in power that the next generation of systems bring with them. Yes, there are problems with ease of programming, though likely more so with the PS3 than with the Xbox 360. Yes, there will be pressure on many to make games more realistic, more meticulous in rendering, and in some ways more generic. However, that isn't the only future. There are many companies, including Namco, Capcom, and Sony's own Naughty Dog and Insomniac Games, that are committed to keeping the cartoony look alive. These systems allow companies, should they wish, to make games with graphics damn near along the lines of modern anime using cel-shading techniques or other ways to preserve the anime style. Imagine if you will a Tales game that allows the enlarged characters normally seen in battle to be used during the rest of the game. Instead of going into a battle screen, the enemies could suddenly rush into the environment, much like Chrono Trigger, without any break from the immersion. Imagine a Xenosaga game where cutscenes, gameplay and battle move from one segment to the other seamlessly, with no noticable load screen or unusual pause, save perhaps to ask for a save (this IS Xenosaga, after all). Imagine a Jak game with huge, bright, colorful cities straight out of the style of Coyboy Bebop or AKIRA, being able to run around those citires freely while tackling the Metalhead forces, which now sport more of a wild, cartoon villian look. Yes, realism is going to be here to stay. However, along with that realism will be games that are able to make their in-game graphics match the anime art on the front cover. It'll be a long time before the game industry rejects its anime styled games.

The death of Working Designs was a blow to the niche game players who loved their titles. However, the gnashing and wailing by those players (myself included) was perhaps a bit overboard. We seem to have forgotten where we've come since WD made its mark with Lunar: The Silver Star on the Sega CD. Now, mid-size and large corporations realize the importance of marketing games to niches. Why else would Konami release Suikoden III and IV here, or Namco bring over Xenosaga, or Midway bring out the first two Shadow Hearts games? Why would Capcom keep releasing Megaman or Breath of Fire games? Hell, even Eidos got into the game for a while, releasing R-Type Final, Legend of Legaia II, Mister Mosquito and Mad Maestro under the Fresh Games label. Also, there are several companies focused on providing games for niches. Agetec (Formerly ASCII Software) Atlus USA NIS America Sammy Studios XSEED Games I've likely forgotten some, but those are the ones I can think of right now. That last one is the newest player on the block, as if they were made to replace Working Designs. They're going to be releasing two games next year: WIld Arms 4 and Shadow Hearts: From the New World. The games look to be interesting additions to the role-playing genre. Of course, there's no guarantee that these games will be as good as the previews suggest, but there's nothing to suggest they'll be bad, either. The thing is that these companies, including the new XSEED games, have provided a five-pillar foundation for niche gaming for some time to come. The trick is that we have to support them with our dollars. Instead of buying the next Square-Enix game that's all style and no substance, grab Wild Arms: Alter Code F or Armored Core Nexus from AgeTec, or maybe some Digital Devil Saga from Atlus. Put in a preorder for Shadow Hearts: From the New World. In other words, put your money where your mouths are. As long as these companies are solvent, and the bigger companies' small-time titles remain profitable, we're going to keep seeing them for a long time to come.

I've had a good night's sleep to contemplate the fall of Working Designs, and during that time the rage and sorrow has given way to some cold hard fact. The fact is that my anger at Sony is not completely warrented. The truth is that Victor Ireland himself carries the lion's share of the blame for Working Designs. There are a few things that need to be mentioned. First off, their choice of launch titles for the PS2 was dubious at best. Gungriffon Blaze was a waste of time, and Silpheed, while decent, was hardly the calibur of shooter you'd expect from Working Designs, who had brought over such gems as Silouette Mirage, Thunderforce V and RayStorm. Secondly, Working Designs was too singularly committed to Goemon. Other than Growlanser, Working Designs didn't even seem to be trying to release other games. While Sony may have had a hand in this, that only leads me to my next point. Third, Working Designs should never have been exclusive to the PlayStation 2. I know for a fact that there are tons of quirky Japanese games for the GameCube, DS and GBA. I also wouldn't be surprised if there were a few for the Xbox even. Working Designs' unwillingness to explore other options choked the company more than anything else. In conclusion, while I'm still sad to see Working Designs die, the surprise isn't really there anymore. Victor Ireland's crappy business practices led to the death of the company more than anything else. One can only hope he redeems himself with his work for Microsoft.

I know I just made another post to the blog, but after having seen the latest news, I have to air out my feelings. Working Designs is gone. I don't know how else to say it. I could go on for hours about the games they published, how they brought life to so many games that otherwise wouldn't have made a dent. However, the people reading this likley know that. Lunar. Arc the Lad.. Rayearth. Space Fantasy 2. Albert Odyssey. These were among the games that made gaming fun, that gave me hope that gaming wouldn't become the sort of unremarkable trash that inundates Hollywood movies now. Sony. Words cannot describe the rage I feel at that one word, at that one brand. In the name of quick cash, Sony has killed any chance of gaming becoming a legitimate past time. Hope you all enjoy Madden and GTA, because unless Ireland's work on the 360 proves fruitful, that's the future of the gaming industry. And it'll be a future without me.