[:plant:] Square-Enix's "4"

They're pushing back the boundaries of imaginative game design then, whatever it turns out to be.

A teenage boy? With a sword? On a dragon? Be still my beating heart, I've not played a game like that for days.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by AcerBandit

Why can't it just be a new IP simply called "4"? I wouldn't put it past Square-Enix. Oh wait. A new IP. That's not likely.

The Last Remnant was completely new IP, it's not like everything they chuck out is a sequel although I admit that calling it "4" does suggest an element of following on from three other things.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

If you think they're going more West-centric, then it's far more likely to be new IP I reckon. I mean, focussing on the "Western" market means aiming at "Casual" gamers rather than "Hardcore" ones right? Well how many of the people who bought the Tomb Raider games and Hitman do you think have even heard of SaGa Frontier or are aware that there's been 3 Romancing SaGa games already?

It's either an announcement of a sequel of something obscure for the Jap market or it's something new for the rest of the world.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by GB

Gaming is definitely making a move towards the realm of "casual,"

Gaming has been a casual, mass-market passtime since the release of the first Wipeout game on Playstation, if not before. The computer game industry outstripped Hollywood in terms of annual revenue years ago and nobody who goes to watch Hollywood blockbusters would ever describe themselves as "Hardcore" unless they were a collosal faggot. Even jrpgs have been mainstream since FFVII, it's just that Japanese developers haven't realised that yet and internet nerds like to cling to their shield of obscure taste in an attempt to disassociate themselves from the general public, probably so they have something to feel superior about. After all, to admit that gaming is about as mainstream a hobby as you can get these days would be to admit that rather than not fitting in with people because they've got an obscure hobby, they simply have terrible social skills and an inability to fit in with people who share a major interest with themselves. Gaming is no more a niche activity than reading or watching television.

I can think of fewer more anachronistic and frankly tragic terms than "Hardcore gamer".

How ya doing, buddy?

The timer is set to run out the day after the end of the Japan Expo 2009 in Paris, at which Sqeenix have a rather large stall, which to me suggests a Japan-centric game, since you'd think if it was a global thing they'd mention it at the big show they were attending.

In other Japan Expo Squeenix news, they'll have copies of Dissidia allowing European gamers to play it for the first time ever!

Are Square not aware that anyone who had any interest in playing that torrented it a couple of days before the official release date?

How ya doing, buddy?