Episode 347: Final Fantasy

This week’s podcast features the Gaming Flashback of Final Fantasy VI, which takes up a third of the podcast as Paul and Jordan enthuse about the Japanese roleplaying game at length – so much so, that some news items were skipped over due to running length. Jonah prepares for his trip to PAX East 2014 for the weekend. He also proclaims Emperor Palpatine dancing in Kinect Star Wars the best thing to ever happen for Star Wars.

This week’s news includes:

  • Amazon says FireTV will boost mid-market games
  • Borderlands 2 Vita bundle hits on May 6, game launches May 13
  • Molyneux predicts Kinect-less Xbox One
  • Microsoft looking into Xbox 360 emulation through Xbox One

A lot of Listener Feedback this week, and the Question of the Week is “What mobile games have you played recently?”

0 thoughts on “Episode 347: Final Fantasy”

  1. Great show guys!

    @Final Fantasy: This was one of my favorite series growing up I started with the very first game when it came out! So imagine having spent hours playing that first game, then when FFIV(2 in USA) came out it looked like leaps and bounds in improvement. To me FF6 was an improvement in graphics, story and characters over FF4. Hearing Paul having trouble differentiating between 4 and 6 got me thinking that the characters may have been a bit bland in comparison. As there is no other “green summoner girl” besides Rydia and no other Dragon Knight other than Kain. I haven’t played those games in years and I still remember their names. The characters in FF6 were very different than in FF4. Also bad Paul getting my hopes up that I had perhaps missed a sequel to FF6 when he had been thinking of FF4 sequel.

    @Backwards compatibility: The problem for me is that the old hardware breaks down and they stop making the older systems so it’s not as easy or cheap to get a hold of. I looked on Ebay for fully backwards compatible PS3 and most were very expensive AND had “Yellow light of death”.

    @Kinect: If they want me to buy a next gen system they SHOULD make a Star Wars Lightsaber or some sword dueling game. There was a Red Katana or something for Wii but that was a FPS with a few sword fights peppered in there. If either the Xbox or PS4 came out with a sword fighting game, especially one I could play with friends I would buy it in a heart beat. Obviously they don’t want me as customer.

    QorW: I think Animal Crossing: New Leaf counts right? I’m having fun playing this with my wife and daughter we go on the island tours. I am like Jordan though I don’t play many portable games I’m mostly a PC guy.

  2. Oh and sorry for spelling errors in last weeks comments. I think I had a dyslexic moment myself and I always think Indy when I see Indie. It’s hard not to when he was a childhood hero of mine.

  3. I forgot to mention I loved hearing the Clue reference to Mrs White’s bit. That’s one of my all time favorite movies.

    I never understood being a Final Fantasy person VS a Phantasy Star person, can’t one enjoy both series? I particularly enjoyed Phantasy Star 3 with it’s Family generational story, I don’t think there is any other game that has you going down the line of a family tree while trying to save the world. I thought it was a pretty great concept that I would love to see more of.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post

Episode 741: Double TakeEpisode 741: Double Take

With Scott:

With TJ:

This episode was done twice — the Scott version can be seen in the first video. The podcast uses the version with TJ. Feel free to compare both.

Both episodes start with the blockbuster news of Nintendo breaking silence on Switch 2 leaks.

The other news includes:

  • Microsoft announces Xbox Developer Direct
  • Switch 2 reportedly getting Halo and another big Xbox game, with Microsoft set to be a “very big supporter”
  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows delayed again as Ubisoft explores company sale options
  • Ubisoft “deeply disturbed” by damning reports of abuse at Assassin’s Creed Shadows support studio

Let us know what you think of the new site design!

Episode 675: Cancel CultureEpisode 675: Cancel Culture

Aside from a news blip taking about Final Fantasy 7 DLC coming to PowerWash Simulator, all of the news seems to talk about cancellations of one kind or another.

The items include:

  • Epic kills Battle Royale game less than six months after release
  • CRIMESIGHT to end service on May 1
  • EA is shutting down Apex Legends Mobile and not giving refunds
  • EA reportedly cancels new Titanfall single-player game
  • Sony, Xbox and Nintendo are reportedly skipping E3 2023

Anything other games you wanted to play but can’t anymore? Let us know.

2008: The Year of Sequels? Too Much Risk?2008: The Year of Sequels? Too Much Risk?

While compiling a list of games to respond to a user question on the TD Gaming Podcast, I’ve noticed something about this years gaming lineup: their mainly all sequels! Are there any new franchises taking a risk in the market or just more of the same? Some are not really “sequels” but spin-offs of the same franchise.

A few examples of some October time frame titles: Fable 2, Far Cry 2, Gears of War 2, Rock Band 2, C&C: Red Alert 3, Saints Row 2, Rayman Raving Rabbids 3, Tekken 6, Call of Duty 5, Guitar Hero World Tour, Tom Clancy End of War, Sing Star Vol 2 and others.

There are a few original titles: Afrika for the PlayStation 3, Little Big Planet (PS3) and Huxley (360 and PC). Most of the original franchise creations seem to be PlayStation 3 related, probably because the console needs some major hits to spur more sales.

Is the market so competitive and risky that new franchises are becoming a rare breed? Last year we saw Assassin’s Creed and before that Viva Pinata and Gears of War exclusive on the Xbox 360. Consider Viva Pinata a “slight” failure in terms of excitement and Gears of War a success, that’s 50/50 in terms of risk vs. reward.

(more…)