What do you get when you cross Final Fantasy with The Last Story?

You get a JRPG titled: "Final Promise Story!"

A new game for the PSP. Some screens here:

Doesn't look too bad. I just don't expect to see this coming overseas, but if it does, I'll probably bite since it's a JRPG!

gamingeek said:

I think the point I would make to the reviewer is that the whole point of the paint mechanic is that you paint a fun happy, Disney like world over the drab, dark wasteland. For instance if there is a dark, ghostly looking house, you paint it and suddenly chunky windows and Disney like doors and colours spring to life. So I have no clue what this guy is talking about.

Disney has always been pretty dark IMO. Not necessarily aesthetically but certainly with their themes and narrative.

Dvader said:

Gears of War Kinect to be shown at the VGAs, this should be interesting. Its not Gears 3, its a seperate game.

Thank god for that.

Archangel3371 said:

Nice to see Kinect sell so well. Looking forward to picking one up soon myself. I can't wait to see this Gears of War Kinect showing on Spike's VGA show.

It is indeed, I honestly thought it would not sell more than 400K over it's life.  More $$$ -> industry the better.  (Agnates, development on this doesn't preclude development on stuff gamers will enjoy).  Plus it extends this console cycle, which is good for developers, publishers and consumers.

Would I get one? Not if they were free. But so far 2.5 million people disagree with me.

Yeah, Gears of Kinect, that will be a riot...

I see practically zero potential for such games on Kinect. At worst you get the above mess, at best you'll have the same controller based gameplay you already do but with slight enhancements like voice commands (cumbersome, and already done pre-Kinect, as all it takes is a mic which so many 360 owners already have, yet it's rarely used outside multiplayer) and maybe a few gestures or headtracking (which isn't very practical) thrown in.

Wii's and now Move's implementation is simply more practical as the more complex/deep the game (or game world), the more you need buttons and an analog stick, on top of the motion based controls. Not to mention the pointer-like accuracy for looking/aiming/shooting, functions wildly common in pretty much every game these days, outside the fixed view beat em ups, strategy titles, puzzlers, sports games and platformers. Not that simple platformers will be so easy to do with Kinect either. Jump to jump? No thank you, leave that for the fitness games.

You just can't conveniently make a character navigate a complex environment, 2D or 3D, by merely tracking yourself in a 2x2 space. Hence why things like the pure duel games shown on Move/Kinect/Wii don't even allow you to move, and only have you throwing punches/slashes and dodging/blocking, effectively making the gameplay very similar on all 3 platforms despite the wildly different technology. If you want to add more functions to that, you need a nunchuck/controller, which have inputs already developed and evolved with the easy movement of characters in 2D/3D space in mind (hence Red Steel 2 and Zelda became possible, not to mention all the FPS games on Wii and soon Move), or you'll end up with cumbersome, inelegant, unnatural gestures.

How do you choose run, walk, sprint, crouch, aim down sights, shoot, alternate shoot, switch weapon, climb, jump, take cover, blind fire, roll, dive, activate bullet time, set explosives, throw grenades, switch grenades, and all sorts of context sensitive actions we see in action adventures today without making it either too tiring or too abstract? Even Wii only chooses a couple such actions each game.

As for extending the generation, all that takes is simply not to release a new system, and to release compelling software. I just see Kinect becoming the app store of home consoles if it's to be used purely by itself, and as a mostly insignificant addition if it's to be used with a controller. So yeah, some good games will show as they have on those platforms, but nothing that will make anyone say this is what the next gen of motion controls should be modelled after, instead of the Wii and now Move type implementation. Nobody wanted the 3DS to ditch buttons just because the iphone/touch was successful and has some fun games, most of which are far from the $30-50 price point due to their scope, and could be recreated on most other platforms anyway (and some have been).

@Iga, all true, but the Wii isn't supported in general despite the fact it's sold so well. Although I think the balance board comparison is very valid, if only because like Kinect it's similarly limited in the type of practical experience it can offer, and thus is mostly only used for fitness, snow/skateboarding, etc. It was never gonna be supported by the next Zelda or something, which motion plus is, as it's more versatile and matches that sort of experience.

Justin Calvert gave Forza 3 a 9.5, but he gave GT5 a 8?  Is Forza 3 really better than GT5 by that much?

I don't know.

I haven't played Forza 3 but I don't know if it deserves a 9.5. First of all, I know Forza 3 doesn't have any weather, night racing, or anything like that. GT5 has all that plus Nascar, Cart racing, and tons of content. Is it really a 8 compared to Forza 3?

What do you guys think?

I am yet to play the first 2, so I'll probably wait for a while before I get it. I wish the DS still have GBA capability so you could somehow transfer your exp from the prior two games into the new one somehow.  I remember Mrs. Aspro entering a big long code into the second one to get data from the first game.

ASK_Story said:

Justin Calvert gave Forza 3 a 9.5, but he gave GT5 a 8?  Is Forza 3 really better than GT5 by that much?

I don't know.

I haven't played Forza 3 but I don't know if it deserves a 9.5. First of all, I know Forza 3 doesn't have any weather, night racing, or anything like that. GT5 has all that plus Nascar, Cart racing, and tons of content. Is it really a 8 compared to Forza 3?

What do you guys think?

aspro said:

"Geek: Infamous 2 screens IMO the character model sucks"

It's the same as the first game, thank god. At least they didn't go with the Justin Beiber look-a-like they tested at E3 (though I can understand why you would have preferred that model).

And you don't have a PS3, what do you care?

I thought it was a new model. I don't remember the face of the E3 model but I remember it looking pants. I don't like this model because he looks vaguely like Sam Worthington and I have seen enough of his face in recent movies to last a lifetime. Plus he is dressed in drab grey, urban wear. It's just a boring model. Watching G.I Joe cartoons from the 80s has reminded me of what great character models can add. Much in the way Transformers characters were designed. They had to be sold as individual toys so a lot of thought went into making character models that are distinct with contrasting colours and have some sort of unique selling point.