Here’s the second part of my PAX account. By the way, I’ve started that photo gallery on deviantART, but I’m still looking for pics. Thanks again!

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Recently-returned oldbie Keefy has started a thread at the Citadel’s Forums titled Your Top Ten Games – Ever. My post is here, mainly pulled from the top of my head. This being a Final Fantasy-related forum, I imagine I’ll get a lot of flak for not including any games from that series in the list.

Afterwards, I got to thinking about why hardcore gamers like the Final Fantasy series so much while dismissing the far more accessible likes of Pokemon. The latter’s “kiddy” trappings aside, the main complaint I hear leveled against Pokemon is that each new installment in the main series is too similar to what has come before. I won’t argue with that; as I said in my Pokemon Ruby impressions post, one Pokemon title should be enough for most people. However, can you imagine the backlash that would occur amongst Pokemon’s dedicated fanbase if the series did take a radical turn?

I would imagine that it would be huge. Mario and Zelda fans, among others, cry out for innovation and often get it, but also complain about new things that they don’t like. Most recently, Dragon Quest IX—the first mainline Dragon Quest to debut on a handheld—has encountered some backlash from dedicated fans. And of course, the Final Fantasy series is not exempt from this, despite its reputation for drastic change from installment to installment; the black sheep of that family include FFVIII with its Junction system, FFXII with its MMO-like trappings, and FFXI and FFXIV, which are MMOs.

Many hardcore gamers seem to crave innovation, but this doesn’t always translate to big hits, or even enjoyable games. Familiarity is a staple that many game series rely on—not just big hits like Pokemon, but also those with smaller yet dedicated fanbases. In any other medium, this same demand for innovation would be silly. Long-running TV shows like Wheel of Fortune may change some over time, and authors like Stephen King hone their craft over several years, but for the most part, people tend to follow specific entertainments (and entertainers) because they continually provide things that they like. I understand that video games, being a technology-dependent medium, are a little different, but there’s nothing wrong with following a series that doesn’t change very much. Innovation is all well and good, but so are high-quality stalwarts, and I hope that they’ll continue to stick around.

It’s been a busy week. In between real-life obligations, there’s also been livestreams (and liveblogs) of press conferences to watch, previews to read, and games to drool over. As the news editor for the Final Fantasy VII Citadel, however, one little line uttered by Jack Tretton during Sony’s press conference kept me particularly busy; something about FFVII being available on the PlayStation Network’s store that same day. I was not done, though, as Europe is also getting FFVII this week.

Those of you who have known me, even for a short while, are aware that Final Fantasy VII is my all-time favorite game. There are many reasons why this is, not least of which is the game itself. The last time I played it was last summer, my first full playthrough in years; not only did I love every second of it, but I even noticed certain things which hadn’t caught my attention before. When the final FMVs played and the credits rolled, I felt a surge of emotion, a mix of satisfaction and sadness that it was all over, yet again. It’s no joke when I say that Final Fantasy VII is very near and dear to my heart.

Unfortunately, us FFVII fans get a bad rap these days. Thanks to the overall mediocrity of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII (though I hear Crisis Core’s gameplay is okay and Advent Children Complete is supposed to be decent), along the original game’s own popularity, there are a lot of haters. I don’t think there would be nearly so many these days if the Compilation hadn’t come about and added to the fanbase—and to the number of people clamoring for a “next-gen” remake, a potentially expensive and disastrous proposition. I’m not one of the remake-wanters and am in fact very much against the idea; I did advocate a remake several years ago, but that was long before the Compilation came along and made the FFVII canon into lacy swiss. That said, I am very happy that the original FFVII is now available through PlayStation Stores worldwide, both for the old fans as well as the newbies who (understandably) don’t want to pay astronomical prices on eBay.

Although FFVII was the only old game that commanded a great amount of attention this E3 thanks to its rerelease, nostalgia is hardly in short supply. This week has seen game announcements for storied franchises (Metroid: Other M, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, and a smattering of Metal Gears, to name a few), upcoming franchise entries that also share an old-school feel (New Super Mario Bros. Wii), wholly new games that are decidedly old school in their approach (CliffyB’s 2.5D Metroidvania titled Shadow Complex), at least one remake (Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition), and at least one game—an entry in a younger series—which employs nostalgia in a different way (The Beatles: Rock Band).

It’s no secret that game developers are shying away from big-budget new IP; times have changed and game development costs for next-gen titles can get into the astronomical. I don’t think gamers mind much, though. For all the demands for innovation and all-around general newness from the hardcores, new sequels and spinoffs for old favorites generally seem to be met with welcome arms, provided developers don’t deviate from the familiar too much. Add an extra dash of “awesome”, as Nintendo did when it revealed that its new Metroid was a collaboration with Team Ninja, and a receptive audience is guaranteed.

There’s no shame in sequels and spinoffs as long as they’re done well and with obvious care, and while the sheer number of them at the Big Three’s press conferences was a little disheartening, at the same time, I’m really anticipating the latest Mario & Luigi game and think God of War III looks great. I know I’m hardly alone in that respect.

Now to fight back the urge to play FFVII again…

Special Stage: Here’s some of my favorite E3 videos. By no means are these the only games shown at E3 that I’m interested in:
• The Beatles: Rock Band – Opening cinematic from the game. Much of the crowd animation ranges from stiff to nonexistent, but overall, it’s fantastic.
• Super Mario Galaxy 2 – Sure, it’s more of the same, but rarely has “more of the same” looked so awesome. Plus, there’s Yoshi!
• Final Fantasy VII – How often does one see a new trailer for a twelve year old game?
• Bayonetta – Oh my. Now that I’ve seen this in action, it has moved from my “might want” category to my “DO WANT” one.

I don’t know with absolute certainty if any of the predictions being made for this year’s E3 will come true, but there is one thing I am absolutely sure of: no matter what gets announced, people will complain about it.

Yesterday, Square Enix put out a press release containing their E3 2009 lineup, which included the new announcements of NIER and Front Mission Evolved. This latter title is the latest entry in a series which I am a huge fan of. However, unlike the majority of Front Missions, Evolved is not a strategy RPG, and on top of that, is being developed by a western studio. Seeing as how few Front Mission games make it out of Japan in the first place, and Evolved is evidently being developed for a global audience, I’m very much interested in and curious about this new entry, however different it is; as long as that familiar Front Mission world is present and the game itself is enjoyable, I’ll be happy. Others were not so enthused.

Truth is, even before this announcement, I had been planning this post, because I know if there’s one thing hardcore gamers like to do, it’s complain, and E3 is the Griping Epicenter of the Gaming Universe. Nintendo fans in particular will be the ones to watch this year, as by all accounts, Ninty’s E3 2008 press conference was generally underwhelming. Although there are many, many sane Nintendo fans, the gripers are notorious for their constant insistence that a new Mario and/or Zelda should be shown whenever possible. Given the small hints dropped in the past about new Wii installments for both of these franchises, many people see the official announcements of these games as being inevitable for this E3. If they don’t happen, people will complain, and loudly, but even if they do, somebody somewhere will find something to whine about. The new Mario will seem too much like a retread, or it’ll be too different, like the much reviled Super Mario Sunshine. Same goes for the new Zelda. Other Nintendo games that are rumored to be unveiled at E3—especially Wii Fit Plus and Pikmin 3—aren’t safe from fanboy complaints either. Smaller Nintendo franchises like Another Code/Trace Memory, Kirby, and the like whose new Wii and/or DS installments were confirmed long ago will probably be ignored by everyone save for their own fanbases (who, more often than not, are just happy that Nintendo remembers they exist) in favor of the big guns. I won’t even touch the Kid Icarus fans…

This situation isn’t unique to Nintendo, as we’ll see variations on it on the Sony and Microsoft sides, but in the case of those two companies, I think there will be proportionally more griping over hardware and services rather than software. The PSP Go and 360 motion camera dongle, among others, are strong contenders for unveiling at the Sony and Microsoft press conferences, and as such, are also big targets for fanboy whining. Certain highly-anticipated Sony games, namely Heavy Rain and “Project Trico”, will undoubtedly be generally well-received if they are shown in some form at E3, but as for Uncharted 2, God of War III, and others, well, somebody will probably complain about something. If Halo 3: ODST is shown at Microsoft’s press conference, cue the hardcores complaining not so much about the game as Halo fanboys.

The Big Three aren’t the only ones who will be targets of fanboy grumblings. Companies ranging from EA to Ubisoft, Capcom to, yes, Square Enix, will be complained about wide and far. Whining about many of the games that have previously been announced and will be seen at E3 has been going on for some time already, anyway, but new game announcements will see their share of complaints as well, as we’ve already seen with Front Mission Evolved. Even small niche companies aren’t completely safe from fanboy griping, though they’re considerably safer than the bigger publishers.

A good E3 is always full of surprises and memorable moments (giant enemy crabs, anyone?), and I hope this year’s will be no different. However, I could do with less pissing and moaning from the peanut gallery. Chances are, when the games people gripe about now are finally released, if they have enough hype and/or good press behind them, they will be bought and played by many anyway. Some of those early complaints may even be moot. Either way, come next week, I guarantee you that somebody somewhere is going to be complaining about the video games shown at E3.