In my two fields of professional development (physical therapy and video game entertainment) I can easily find arguments pertaining to quality imbued with opinion. In medicine, one can always find a school of thought maintaining that an anterior lateral approach for total hip arthroplasty is more effective with shorter healing time than say, a posterior approach. Constantly, the technophiles will bicker about which video game console is more robust and better performing than another.

It would seem that there is this persistent insatiable urge for humans to believe that there is always something that is better than all the rest out there - and of course, that they support it.

Why so cut and dry? Why so black and white?

Sure, there are some stark realities out there. Take the velocity of an object falling to earth at a rate of 9.98m/sec2 as an example. There is no contesting that. How about the sun as the most potent form of energy available to this planet - the best energy source, if you will. Again no debate.

But why must people ridicule themselves with half facts and irate banter proliferating their good, better, best opinion about something they like merely for their own self importance?

Topics for debate regarding preferences or effectiveness must be looked at and communicated with a generous helping of ambiguity. Even a clause denouncing "drugs are bad" cannot be taken with straight shooting vigor. Of course, cocaine abuse is harmful, but aspirin has been known save people from irreversible heart attack damage. Both are drugs, but clearly, one is not all bad as the quoted statement may insinuate.

My point, abstract as it may be, is when engaging someone - anyone - in discussion with room for variance in emotional output, do not focus on always being right. Just because someone likes something does mean that it is right. And just because someone voices their own litany at more boisterous levels does not indicate that the one who acquiesced is inherently wrong. Use the time and exposure and differences in opinion as an opportunity for learning and knowledge sharing; we may find our fellow man far more tolerable if we understand that being right is not always what's best.

This generation of gaming has been a tumultuous one for me thus far. Before the true unveiling I found myself desiring the super powered behemoth called the Playstation 3. My total abhorrence of Microsoft did indeed have much to do with that desire, and the unpopularity of the GameCube made it easy for a twenty year fanboy to stray away from perennial favorite Nintendo.

However, upon the monumental release of the electronics juggernauts' new consoles I was greatly disappointed. The entire Playstation 3 project turned out to be a Fable press-conference gone wrong - complete with unfulfilled promises and shallow technological threats (ie. the SIXAXIS controller). The last several months have found restored glory to the Playstation flagship, with the exception of backwards compatability, and has recently made good on several promises of its originally indicated prowess.

But in the meantime, the Wii just kind of sits there. It isn't a great system, and any fool can tell of the systems lack power (though it is not as great of a lack as its competitor fanboys would have you believe). Whereas the motion sensitive SiXAXIS seemed like an afterthought to SONY, the whole idea of expandable content seemed like a non-thought to Nintendo. Even with over 300 available DLC titles to choose from, as Microsoft and SONY make a killing with gamers by selling expandable content - as gamers demand this kind of replay-ability from their software...Nintendo has made no announcement of a USB HDD to expand its content playability, accessibility and even enjoyment.

Why?

Rather - why not?

My internal memory on my Wii is nigh full. I can only upgrade this storage with a standard SD memory card which has a max storage of 4GB (apparently the high speed SD cards are unsupported by the Wii's hardware) I hope to attain a Rockband 2 library as soon as the music store opens up. I hope that I can download some more old-school games for the sake of enjoyment and nostalgia...but I cannot.

Imagine you as a wii owner, possessing a great collection of games and an "x"GB HDD. Now you can download all the Virtual Console Games you want. Now there's a team creating new MarioKart tracks for multiplayer fun. New monsters and upgrades fro games like Pokemon. New golf courses for Tiger Woods, new dungeons for Legend of Zelda, etc.

And then, Wii gamers could reap all the gaming benefits and progressive content that gamers who own XBOX 360 or PS3 enjoy and demand. Then it wouldn't matter if the Wii is not as realistic looking or graphically intense. Because when all is said and done, we play games because of their playability. We buy them because we want to own them, and get our money's worth out of them. C'mon Nintendo, help gamers to embrace the Wii and all of its possibilities. We really do want to.

with times being tighter than i would like, ive become far more judicial in my game purchases. i use news sources and gamespot for information to make an informed decision, hoping not to buy a game that i'll be terribly let down from later. whilst doing that over the last several months, i have come across a plethora of diverse information.

which leads me to a pending release final fantasy xiii.

the new generation of gaming systems has seen ffxiii kpublisher sqaure enix try "new" things in theyre rpg's. infinite undiscovery reunited us with an action based battle system relying on ally ai for items, support spells, combo-chains, etc. the release of the game found a description that toted the battle system as being perfected over several gaming systems and titles. but really it was just a combination of battle mechanics from valkyrie profile, star ocean, and final fantasy xii.

none the less, square enix tried to bring newer mechanics to the rpg arena, reflecting the desires of fans who want more than turn based battle action.

in conjunction, last remnant is set for release in a few short weeks. i just minutes ago read a hands on preview of what the battle mechanics may entail. i'll admit that the lack of information regarding the mechanics of this game have had me doubtful of its worth. but this particular preview stated that the game will be turn-based in nature, with timed ques for added effects, such as paper mario, or lost odyssey, or the newly released sonic chronicles. where as this may seem like a step backward, im curious to know what "new" mechanics they developers are trying out for the finalization of its flagship title - final fantasy.

lets face it, no one has any informationm on this title. the narrative, the open world, the characters, the battle system...all of it is under wraps. is the battle system going to entail a revamped, suped up turn based system like last remnant? will it be a fixed version of infinte undiscovery's action combo based system with better magic management and smarter more useful ai? or will it entail more of the mechanics of the still secretive action turn based sytem of the perennial star ocean series?

i guess we'll all just have to wait and see.

i just recently picked up final fantasy tactics A2 for the DS, and am awaiting the pending release of FFIV in a little over a month. so to commemorate the occasion i went looking for stories and rumors if not information on a possible release/remake of FFV. it yielded me nothing but message boards filled with folks yelling at each other about which is more important in a game, which system sucks more, and fnally which final fantasy title was the best.....

if it were just one board....i'd have understood, if not just merely ignored the whole concept. but this trend was found viable on several boards - including several here on gamespot. it seems no matter how decent the article, or editorial - it always attracts some nut who argues till he's blue in the face that FFVII was the greatest damn game ever made. when asked why....they always rebut with, "it just is."

now, i understand that having made these remarks, and if anyone were to ever read this, i will undoubtedly have a full inbox tomorrow when i check this before leaving for a very much deserved vacation....but i digress.

why is it that rpg gamer conversations always lead back to final fantasy VII? always . no matter what. without a doubt. well lets see if it worksin reverse. im going to intentionally talk about THAT game....well, others too.

i remmeber high school in 1997 - the year FFVII was released. i had just finished playing FFIII (later to be known as FFVI)for the SNES. and i loved it. everything about it. the sound, the sprites. the characters. that opera seen. when i first laid eyes on FFVII i was blown away. it was mindboggling. and truth be told....i thought it was one of the greatest things ever created. FFVIII arrived a few years later and i despised it. everything about. and sadly i was too drunk to remember when FFIX came out.

but having recently revisited all these masterpieces, my opinions have changed. FFVIII is far more mature than its predecessors and after having placed nearly 10 years between myself and the game....i rally enjoy it. more in fact than FFVII. and here's why. when playing VIII, one can actually follow the story. VII was built on scatterbrained writting and doesnt make sense unless you have crisis core on the PSP. the visual styles were also all over the place. its almost as if the developers were split into two teams wo never talked to each but once a month to compare notes for an hour. sure the characters are memorable and awesome - cloud is still the biggest baddass since chuck norris till auron in FFX....but the game as a whole just hasnt stood the test of time in my opinion. dont get me wrong. i still love it. i greatly appreciate all the games i own, and i own quite a few of some of the greatest RPG's ever made. does that make me an expert? not in the least. but after my revisit i can still say that VIII was more uniform and sensical than VII, the imagery better, the battles bigger. the story more rich. the game play smoother, the minigames not as pointless. but lets not forget - if not for FFVII we wouldnt have nearly the talent and playability of the games we have today.