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This Week in Games - VIDEO GAME DREAMS DO COME TRUE


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Lord Geo



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 2589
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
PostPosted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 9:18 am Reply with quote
Quote:
You can also try to track down the old Wizardry OVA from the 80s, inspired by the games. It's reportedly bad, and Woodhead has stated in the past that he would only talk about it under the influence, "and [he doesn't] drink!".


The Wizardry OVA is... fine. If anything, it's biggest flaw is in how straightforward it is, since the game itself had no real plot behind it other than "Head down the dungeon & kill the wizard", but it's really more "generic" than "bad"; fun enough for the hour or so it runs, but not much else beyond that.

As for Sir-Tech, while the OG company died in the early 00s, apparently one of its co-founders, Robert Sirotech, actually founded a new version (Sir-Tech Entertainment Co.) in 2022 that essentially handles some the legal rights to those original games, hence why Digital Eclipse had to acknowledge Sir-Tech for this Wizardry remake in some of the copyright. I've always heard talk of there being legal problems when it comes to the older Wizardry games (since Drecom currently owns the series, as a whole, but apparently not the oldest games), and I guess Sirotech starting up this new Sir-Tech is his way of helping iron out those problems.
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djl33



Joined: 04 Aug 2010
Posts: 23
PostPosted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:05 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Microsoft spent a year "polishing" Starfield so it could wither in Baldur's Gate 3's shadow.


What is that supposed to mean?
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Beatdigga



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 4457
Location: New York
PostPosted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:35 am Reply with quote
So I don’t get involved in the Microsoft stuff lest I scream, I will say I found Wizardry and Ultima to be two sides of the same coin, namely a prototype of RPG’s based on the idea of bringing a tabletop role playing experience to an electronic interface. They laid the groundwork for a lot of concepts we take for granted, like how Shin Megami Tensei and arguably even Pokémon are essentially direct descendants of Wizardry IV.

I will say that the Wizardry series’ various issues were never as bad as the ending of Ultima, Ultima 8 being an unfinished mess whose isometric platforming system made the game unplayable, and 9 being one of the earlier examples of EA killing a franchise because of pure unadulterated greed.
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Silver Kirin



Joined: 09 Aug 2018
Posts: 1144
PostPosted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 11:10 am Reply with quote
- Square-Enix: I've been looking at the sales results of S-E's games like FFVII Remake and FFXVI and, while I've seeing some posts claiming they're happy with their results, I remember reading posts before the launch of those games of people claiming they would sell over ten million copies easily, but FFVII Remake has shipped over 7 million copies, which itself is a great number, but considering the hype it got since it reveal one would argue it would have sold even more. Though to be honest, don't think the amount of hype and nostalgia from people in forums and social media translate well to sales. Don't know if S-E has the capacity of making a FF game which could sell as much as what Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom did for Zelda, I don't think they're doing a good job at attracting a new audience, despite all the good reviews FFXVI got I don't see much discussion about it outside from enthusiast forums. I think part of the problems comes from the exclusivity deals with Sony for FFXVI and VII and the fact that they're pretty bad in marketing for others series, like Dragon Quest.
- Microsoft: Phil's email has so many things going on, even if it was just a random thought of his. The fact that he considers an hypothetical a Nintendo acquisition a "career moment", it's like he wants to be just like Bob Iger when he managed to buy Lucasfilm for Disney. I also find it kind of disturbing that many people think it would be a good idea that MS would acquire Nintendo just to play their games in 4K resolution at 120 FPS, I mean I can see the appeal, but who honestly wants MS to have a monopoly on gaming. Nintendo is far from perfect, but I honestly can't imagine them making the same types of games they've making since the NES if they would make them for the Xbox, don't think MS would want to revive F-Zero or Star Fox.
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Blue Senpai



Joined: 30 Aug 2023
Posts: 41
PostPosted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 3:16 pm Reply with quote
djl33 wrote:
What is that supposed to mean?


I'm not sure. It's especially odd because Starfield has sold a lot more than BG3 has already despite the later being out far longer. I do see people are upset it's Xbox exclusive on consoles so maybe it's a console war thing.

I think Starfield is defiantly a step backwards in some ways compared to Fallout 4 , but it's fun to build my own ship and just run around leveling up by scanning and documenting planets and aliens. At least stealth isn't stupidly OP anymore like it was in all previous Bethesda games.

Silver Kirin wrote:
- Square-Enix: I've been looking at the sales results of S-E's games like FFVII Remake and FFXVI and, while I've seeing some posts claiming they're happy with their results, I remember reading posts before the launch of those games of people claiming they would sell over ten million copies easily, but FFVII Remake has shipped over 7 million copies, which itself is a great number, but considering the hype it got since it reveal one would argue it would have sold even more. Though to be honest, don't think the amount of hype and nostalgia from people in forums and social media translate well to sales. Don't know if S-E has the capacity of making a FF game which could sell as much as what Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom did for Zelda, I don't think they're doing a good job at attracting a new audience, despite all the good reviews FFXVI got I don't see much discussion about it outside from enthusiast forums. I think part of the problems comes from the exclusivity deals with Sony for FFXVI and VII and the fact that they're pretty bad in marketing for others series, like Dragon Quest.


I wonder how much Rebirth will sell since it's not only a sequel which tend to sell less but also people now know the remake is not not a remake at all but an entirely new direction the game is going in so it wont have the initial hype the first game had.
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AiddonValentine



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 2253
PostPosted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 3:51 pm Reply with quote
I think the worst I've seen with those MS e-mails is people trying to play "Devil Advocate" and pretend this is all just chewing the fat and typical c-suite speak that we shouldn't blow out of proportion. Those people are idiots and it really shows how badly a lot of gaming pundits will makes excuses for executives who would gladly destroy the industry.

And the thing that gets me about Spencer's e-mail is he thinks that just buying something is on the same level as actual creation or innovation. No Phil, buying a company is not a big deal except for the employees and customers who ultimately get screwed over for one reason or another. Miyamoto creating Donkey Kong, Mario, Zelda, etc is career-defining, id Software finding a way to make FPS's that could run on toasters is career-defining, FFVII dismantling a lot of 90s RPG cliches and becoming the game that made the PS1 is career defining, GTA III solidifying sandbox gameplay is career-defining, the Wii sending Nintendo into a revival is career-defining. You are just some asshole with access to an exorbitant checkbook provided by a predatory company that wants to own everything. Monopolist brainrot, man.

Anyway, I have Halloween playlists to tend to.
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FinalVentCard
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 28 Oct 2018
Posts: 539
PostPosted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 5:27 pm Reply with quote
djl33 wrote:
Quote:
Microsoft spent a year "polishing" Starfield so it could wither in Baldur's Gate 3's shadow.


What is that supposed to mean?


Hey, I remember you. You were in the comments two weeks ago, wondering why I didn't "mention Starfield". You also posted this same message last week when I made a sideways reference to Starfield. I didn't answer you because I'd hoped that you'd understand why a website named "Anime News Network" wouldn't dedicate much (if any) to an American game made by an American studio that had no real connection to any noteworthy Japanese creatives or why I wouldn't care to go too far into detail about Starfield when I don't talk about games of its ilk very often.

I'm very lucky that I work for ANN because literally any other publication would require me to cut down on, say, coverage discussing Touhou or Shiren the Wanderer just to talk about how Starfield is shaping up to be the Bethesda Game of All Time with 50% more fetch-quests than the leading brand. But my lovely editor doesn't bend my arm that way, and I'm rewarded with being able to talk about Izuna the Unemployed Ninja, which has led to a lot of people being very happy for me and looking forward to what I have to say about the news concerning its new game. I mostly leave American devs/games out of the discussion outside of significant news that's industry-wide stuff--or if it's a slow work week and I have nothing else to talk about and major industry figureheads like John Romero or American McGee are up to something. I figure anyone who wants to read about whatever Todd Howard is promising his next open-world game will do will just go someplace else for that.

That, and I don't have anything nice to say about Starfield. I make the conscious effort of not ragging on games I hate because life is too short for that stuff and I have better things to do and talk about then kvetch about... I dunno, Assassin's Creed or whatever. But in this case, yeah, I had to say it because in the opinion of That Bitch (That Bitch being me), having a year where we have such phenomenal games with stellar character writing like Baldur's Gate 3 then getting The Bethesda Game Of All Time starring John Starfield and his army of NPCs that stare at you super-creepy in first-person feels like a definite step down, especially since even fans of the game admit that it'll be "so much better" once modders Ship of Theseus the game into a better state than it's in now. And I already trust folks who enjoy Starfield to prefer just playing the game they like than running around chasing after people who haven't talked about Starfield to see how they feel about it.

So yeah, I mean what I said, I'm not interested in discussing the matter further. This isn't a "console" matter (we've dragged Nintendo and Sony here plenty), if Microsoft wants me to stop calling them out on their bullshit then they can stop trying to monopolize games. End of story. Please stop singling out my comments on Starfield and asking for clarification.
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Azure Chrysanthemum



Joined: 23 Apr 2023
Posts: 124
PostPosted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 7:19 pm Reply with quote
It's astonishing that executives at Microsoft fail to understand Nintendo's vital niche in gaming just as much as the loud online fandom contingent. Nintendo being a low-budget option with handheld capabilities provides great space for lower-budget studios that don't need the full graphical fidelity of a AAA title. People see SE continually shoot itself in the foot over the AAA experience worship and live service games failing by the truckload but still can't accept that Nintendo is successful BECAUSE their approach is unique in an industry that is otherwise obsessed with chasing the biggest dollar highest fidelity experiences at the expense of all else.

My wife obsessively hunted down a PS5 for us and stalked Best Buy for months, and we barely use the thing outside of loading up Crunchyroll on it. Our Switches however both get pretty consistent use as gaming consoles playing a lot more mid-tier games that are fun experiences with a beginning and an end. And right now it feels like Nintendo's the only place where you can consistently get that kind of experience in the console market.
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Silver Kirin



Joined: 09 Aug 2018
Posts: 1144
PostPosted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 7:33 pm Reply with quote
Blue Senpai wrote:
I wonder how much Rebirth will sell since it's not only a sequel which tend to sell less but also people now know the remake is not not a remake at all but an entirely new direction the game is going in so it wont have the initial hype the first game had.

Well, the previews from the TGS seem to be very positive, the game is larger, it has the complete cast, it seems to cover most of the story up to the ending of the OG game first disc, there's a huge open world to explore, pretty much people say it's GOTY material. Though I still have some doubts, don't know if S-E is trying to make this new FFVII for the fans who grew up with the original game, or if they're also trying to capture a new audience, same problem with XVI. Being a PS5 exclusive is also a problems of sorts, the exclusivity deal is only for 3 months, but just for the PC version, there wasn´t any mention of a Xbox version of Remake or Rebirth, but even then JRPGs tend to be a very frontloaded genre and they usually fall from the charts very quickly, unless you're Pokémon, it seems FFXVI sales had no legs in markets like Japan and some Eurpean countries.
There's some rumors that FFVII Remake will probably arrive to the Nintendo Switch's successor, but I won't believe until I see it
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ZelosZoidberg



Joined: 23 May 2018
Posts: 662
PostPosted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 8:21 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Jean:With this, I'm legit beside myself
Me: No me too! There are dozens of us! Dozens!
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AiddonValentine



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 2253
PostPosted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 8:46 pm Reply with quote
Azure Chrysanthemum wrote:
It's astonishing that executives at Microsoft fail to understand Nintendo's vital niche in gaming just as much as the loud online fandom contingent. Nintendo being a low-budget option with handheld capabilities provides great space for lower-budget studios that don't need the full graphical fidelity of a AAA title. People see SE continually shoot itself in the foot over the AAA experience worship and live service games failing by the truckload but still can't accept that Nintendo is successful BECAUSE their approach is unique in an industry that is otherwise obsessed with chasing the biggest dollar highest fidelity experiences at the expense of all else.

My wife obsessively hunted down a PS5 for us and stalked Best Buy for months, and we barely use the thing outside of loading up Crunchyroll on it. Our Switches however both get pretty consistent use as gaming consoles playing a lot more mid-tier games that are fun experiences with a beginning and an end. And right now it feels like Nintendo's the only place where you can consistently get that kind of experience in the console market.


At this point, with 130 million+ Switches sold, I can't even call Nintendo's place in the industry a niche so much as it is a divergent philosophy. It's also part of why Microsoft is struggling despite having so many more resources than Nintendo or Sony.
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chrisb
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Joined: 07 May 2006
Posts: 624
Location: USA
PostPosted: Fri Sep 22, 2023 8:56 pm Reply with quote
I want to support the Baten Kaitos remaster, but the lack of an English dub is really holding me back.The first game’s dub was awful but kinda charming. The sequel’s dub in my opinion is superior to the Japanese original.
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oilers2007



Joined: 23 Sep 2022
Posts: 102
PostPosted: Sat Sep 23, 2023 12:39 am Reply with quote
Silver Kirin wrote:
Well, the previews from the TGS seem to be very positive, the game is larger, it has the complete cast, it seems to cover most of the story up to the ending of the OG game first disc,


Aren't Cid and Vincent "guest only" like Red XIIII was in the first game? So we can't even play as them when we could at this point in the OG game, so I'm not sure I'd say the gang's all here fully yet. Unless they make more DLC like they did with Yuffie for the first game. At this point I'm probably just going to wait until the whole thing is out and sold as one complete game, especially since it seems like you're progress and level wont carry over from the first game. Maybe that'll be a change they do down the line for the complete edition to make it one complete experience.

chrisb wrote:
I want to support the Baten Kaitos remaster, but the lack of an English dub is really holding me back.The first game’s dub was awful but kinda charming. The sequel’s dub in my opinion is superior to the Japanese original.


There is also the weird re-localization changes and censorship they added to the games. It's really a shame how remasters are always a 50/50 chance of being the worst way to play a game with the least amount of content. I prefer remasters (and remakes) that add previously cut and never seen before content rather than take stuff away.
...Or sells it as separate DLC *side eyes Resident Evil 4 Remake*
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DangerMouse



Joined: 25 Mar 2009
Posts: 3989
PostPosted: Sat Sep 23, 2023 2:15 am Reply with quote
Man, I can't wait for FF7 Rebirth, it looks fantastic and I absolutely loved the first part of the remake. Also was cool to know the rumored Tales of Arise story dlc is so soon and the next big Trails game is closer than I expected coming next summer, my PS5 is ready for it. Lots of good Japanese game announcements and updates for me these last few days thanks to TGS and the leadup to it, my PS5 and Switch will continue to be getting a workout this year and next, and yeah it was also cool seeing some wild surprises like Izuna show up out of nowhere (as long as it makes it over).

Just got in my preorder for that sweet collector's edition of Unicorn Overlord.

Playing Sea of Stars and Eternights, Fate/Remnant and DQ Infinity Strash are just about here, and I've also got Anonymous Code, Nayuta, finishing Armored Core and some more messing around with Baldur's Gate 3 to work on for a month before Spidey 2 arrives.

chrisb wrote:
I want to support the Baten Kaitos remaster, but the lack of an English dub is really holding me back.The first game’s dub was awful but kinda charming. The sequel’s dub in my opinion is superior to the Japanese original.

Same here. I was going to be day one but I've ended up holding off (I guess my current overload of games helped). I do imagine I'll probably break at the first discount because I really loved these two games, but I really wish they'd included the dubs.


Last edited by DangerMouse on Sat Sep 23, 2023 2:54 am; edited 5 times in total
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chrisb
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Joined: 07 May 2006
Posts: 624
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 23, 2023 2:23 am Reply with quote
oilers2007 wrote:
There is also the weird re-localization changes and censorship they added to the games. It's really a shame how remasters are always a 50/50 chance of being the worst way to play a game with the least amount of content. I prefer remasters (and remakes) that add previously cut and never seen before content rather than take stuff away....Or sells it as separate DLC *side eyes Resident Evil 4 Remake*


First I’ve heard of any censorship or changes. I can’t recall anything at all in the original that would be considered controversial or problematic. So odd they “relocalized” it when the original translation was pretty good.

Edit: After a bit of searching I see one change is the Apple Wine card is now apple vinegar?? I’m not one to really care much about this kind of stuff but that just feels like a 90s localization move Confused


Last edited by chrisb on Sat Sep 23, 2023 2:30 am; edited 1 time in total
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