Where have you been all my life Final Fantasy XIII? [ March 11th, 2010 ] Posted in » Xbox 360, gaming

I love RPG’s.  They are far and away my favorite genre of games.  To me they are the closest we get to telling a true story in a video game.  That’s why I eagerly look forward to each release of the Final Fantasy series, which are quite possibly the flagship RPG titles.

Well about 5 hours into Final Fantasy XIII I can say that it hasn’t disappointed at all.  In fact, it’s jaw droppingly amazing in many of the same ways that Final Fantasy VII was.

Because Final Fantasy VII has taken on such an epic place in gaming lore, people have been in backlash to it for some time.  But they forget (or never played it when it launched) just how epic a game it was.  Final Fantasy VII changed everything about RPG’s.

Characters became important.  Personalities mattered.  Story telling took a huge leap forward.  We actually cared about those characters in ways that very few games before (or since) have captured.  I will never forget walking into my apartment in college seeing my roommates playing Final Fantasy and being blown away by the graphics.

Why do I tell you all this?  Because Final Fantasy XIII is the first game in the FF series that captures that feel.

The characters are laugh out loud funny.  They each have their own personalities, motives, and attitudes.  They aren’t just cookie cutter characters – they are characters to care about.  Even though I’ve only spent a few hours with them, I like them already.  And in the age of “whiney boy turned manly hero” that’s saying something.

Of course it’s not just characters.  The graphics are astounding.  I’m playing on the 360, so I can only imagine that the PS3 version is even more amazing.  I have never played a game where it’s hard to tell the difference between FMV’s and game play.  Maybe they are out there, but it’s not on my radar.  The only game that really captured that same seamless feeling was Half Life.  Another brilliant game.

I don’t know if Final Fantasy XIII will be as awesome 50 hours in, as it is at 5 hours.  But something tells me I won’t be disappointed.



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A fond farewell to a mouse

The time has finally come, my friends, to bid adieu.  To my mouse that is.  I have had the same Microsoft Intellimouse since 2000 when I bought it right before I had knee surgery.  (The mouse was to go along with Star Trek Elite Forces.  There was no way I was going to give up gaming just because I couldn’t walk!)  That mouse worked great for years.  But over the last few months it has been slowly dying.  At first the cord got cut (but a little bit of electrical tape and the problem was solved).  Then the mouse wheel began to deteriorate.  In fact I can’t use it to scroll down.  It goes up just fine, but down is next to impossible.

As much as I love technology and new gadgets, I despise throwing away perfectly good technology.  So it usually has to be ripped out of my cold dead fingers, as they say.

So what am I upgrading to?

Well buying a mouse is a pretty personal thing.  It has to fit just right in your hand.  It has to have all the options you want.  And for me, price is an issue.  In the end I am going with Logitech’s G500.  It will be my first “gaming mouse”.  Hell, when I bought my mouse in 2000, there wasn’t even such a thing as a gaming mouse!

I hope you will all join me in raising your trigger finger to a fine, fallen friend.  RIP buddy.

January 27th, 2010 | Leave a Comment

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