The Remake that Never Happened, Hasn't Happened, but Should Happen

Dear Sony,

Nintendo is about to curbstomp you with its recent repertoire of Japanese-friendly games that will be sure to flood the markets, increase sales of the 3D, and give the company a full head-start in the eighth generation. It is taking Metal Gear Solid, Monster Hunter, and worst of all, Dragon Quest. Don’t look now but I can guarantee you that Final Fantasy might be looking in that direction as well. The Vita was delayed, the PS4 is nowhere to be seen, the PSP is beginning to sink, the PS3 while doing better is still a mere shadow of the competitors as its still in third place. You may not be panicking right now, but you honestly should be. You think Uncharted is going to save you this holiday season? Check it out: Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (everyone knows the XBox 360 version is the one to get), the new Halo Anniversary game, Gears of War 3, Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect 3, need I go on?

Now what is the point of this letter you ask? Sony, you need leverage, you need a mind-blowing, out-of-the-blue news story that will infuse some life and hope to the Vita. What you need is the remake that should have happened but never did, and it ruined the PS3’s launch for quite some time. You need the one game that gamers had been clamoring about for years upon years. You need the remake to the one game that launched the original Playstation into the stratosphere all those years ago.


Sony, you need the Final Fantasy VII remake.



Who cares if it’s a remake? Remakes can help launch and save systems. The Nintendo DS was afloat thanks to Super Mario 64 DS. The 3DS was on life-support and was briefly held with a heartbeat became of Ocarina of Time 3DS. Now we all know Nintendo whores out those old classics like a congested pimp, but Sony needs to borrow a page from Nintnedo’s Book of Successful Strategies and link itself to the past and re-create a game that while hasn’t aged in terms of gameplay and story, in terms of graphics could use a nice polish. But the truth is, this adventure needs to be re-visited once again.

I am not sure why Square Enix keeps cranking out excuses as to why a remake isn’t going to be made anytime soon. They’ve done remakes of other franchises in recent years, pointless sequels to others, and even made a couple films using the animation-style of Final Fantasy VII. They have thrown FF VII characters to other video games, and adding a little salt to the wound, re-released it in all its block glory in the Playstation Network. Even more crazyness is the decision to re-release Final Fantasy X before remaking VII!!! So why on earth will you not try to polish up the game and introduce it to a new generation of gamers? Why on earth will you not cater to your constantly-depleting fanbase?


Imagine the Vita or the PS4 getting the Final Fantasy VII Returns treatment. Imagine getting all the blocky animations smoothed out like in Star Fox 3DS, imagine getting full-length cut-scenes that looks like the animation from Advent Children. Imagine the battle animations being redone and the battle system fixed up a little to pace better. Remaking Final Fantasy VII only makes too much sense, especially when the reputation of said company outside of Japan has been quite miserable. Bring back the game that made JRPGs arguably the biggest genre in the N64/PSX generation. It only makes too much sense and would benefit both Square Enix and Sony.


Sony, this idea can’t fail. Gamers have requested it for over a decade, and the demand increased after the infamous graphics presentation back in E3 2005. It has been a story that has stood the test of time, and contains a style that has yet to be matched by any Final Fantasy games following it. I think after Final Fantasy XIII, we gamers deserve an apology. What better way to apologize than majorly pushing for that Final Fantasy VII remake that should have happened years ago?

Make it happen.

Sincerely,
Random Gamer.

Unpause the Damn Game!: November Brings Promise To Nintendo

Unpause the Damn Game!: November Brings Promise To Nintendo: Today(Sept. 13,2011), well this morning at 12:00 a.m.-ish Nintedo had a Press Conference for the 3DS. Since the release of the 3DS earlie...

Nintendo is Turning Japanese

...turning Japanese, I really think so.......

Nintendo has definitely seen better days, but its recent overhaul of the Nintendo 3DS has definitely been an improvement as they cut the price, added another circle pad, started busting out some release dates, and revamped its strategy outlook towards the machine. They had a recent 3DS conference in which they played damage control and practically promised that better days are near. With the Vita being delayed until next year, Nintendo wasted no time in bringing out the heavy-hitter franchises of Mario and Mario Kart into the holiday season. In the midst of all this however, there’s a new strategy brewing from the Big N: they are going to attempt to conquer Japan in the next couple of months.


The Wii was a massive hit around the world, but still didn’t find its audience in Japan like the Playstations and the Nintendo DS. Consider this, the PSX sold 21 million in Japan, the PS2 sold 23 million, and the Nintendo DS sold 32 million. Even the PSP sold around 18 million. The Nintendo Wii? 11.8 million. While that is no pure disaster (Gamecube: a miserable 4 million) it still could have been much better. The Wii despite losing steam for about 2 years still had a nice repertoire of great video games, and a variety of them do also appeal to the Japanese gamers.

But…..


The sales of all its big franchises stalled or didn’t improve. Super Mario Galaxy barely etched past 1 million sales, and Mario Galaxy 2 (arguably one of the best games in the recent generation) didn’t even hit that high a number. Zelda: Twilight Princess sold only 600,000 in Japan. Kirby’s latest game? 444,000. Donkey Kong Country Returns? 999,000. And let's not even look at the numbers for Metroid. Each of the games I mentioned had predecessors that sold significantly more copies in Japan. The Japanese audience just isn’t as invested in Nintendo as it used to. And for those of you playing Devil’s Advocate: the New Super Mario Bros. franchise did sell over 11 million copies in Japan and Mario Kart’s last two entries pushed past 7 million copies total.

P.S. Metroid: Other M----130,000 copies.....


I am sure Nintendo is seeing this trend, because their “Turning Japanese” strategy is going full-blast and at a fast pace. Let’s start with the 3DS. They announced a new Square Enix JRPG, a genre that’s almost dead to all us American gamers. They announced a new Fire Emblem, an extremely popular franchise in Japan. The biggest blow to Sony’s Vita is the announcement of two new Monster Hunter games---one port, and a sequel that may or may not be exclusive. Now, we Western Hemisphere gamers know next to nothing about these games but in Japan, they are freakin’ huge. The only reason why the PSP even survived was because of this franchise. Monster Hunters’ PSP games (the four of them) have each sold over 1 million copies in Japan alone (and two of them sold over 4 million) and to this day still remain in the tops of the charts in the Far East Coast (How High reference). With the 3DS getting two entries in the Japanese-friendly powerhouse, this is for sure a great way to attract Japanese gamers to the new handheld.


But the one major player in all this that surprisingly hasn’t gotten that much attention is Dragon Quest. The Wii is getting a 25th anniversary collection of early Dragon Warrior games (which by the way is being handled much better than other celebrations...) and then the news of the next major installment. Dragon Quest X is coming out not only for the Nintendo Wii, but also the WiiU. Not only are they available for both systems, but both games are accessable to the same overworld with cross-platform interaction. Not only that, but its also going to be extremely online-heavy, a move clearly motivated by the mammoth success of the previous adventure on the Nintendo DS.


Like I said before, you don't see how big the impact is until you read the numbers from Japan. Dragon Quest 9 for the DS sold over 4 million copies in Japan alone and remains the fastest-selling game of all time. Dragon Quest 8 for the PS2 sold over 3 million copies in Japan in the first week alone and is the PS2's biggest Japanese sales story in its lifetime. Dragon Warrior VII believe it or not sold more copies in Japan than Final Fantasy VII. That's right, the legendary steampunk classic Final Fantasy VIII can't beat them. Arguably the most popular and game-changing entry in the franchise, Dragon Warrior/Quest III, sold over 6 million copies in Japan across three platforms and became so huge that Enix decided to release future installments on the weekends to not create the widespread absenteeism associated with a new Dragon Warrior release. Yes, it gets that bad.


This isn't big news, this is humongous news. Dragon Quest X will be Nintendo's biggest RPG release not named Pokemon since the SNES days. All Nintendo has to do is practically promise a good marketing campaign and good relations and we can see this game as a major launch title that will also move units in the Wii spectrum. The WiiU will immediately thrive in Japan, and while that country's impact isn't what it used to be, it can still save a system from extinction from time to time (Best example: Playstation Portable). Nintendo has won America again by tapping into the mainstream and basically throwing the hardcore audience off the bridge. With all these revelations, they will pretty much rock the Japanese charts and bring the competitors to their knees.


Bottom Line: The 3DS, WiiU, and the Nintendo community have gotten some amazing news lately as we are seeing much more third-party support and beginning to see a new revolution of Nintendo gaming in the world of Japan. With Monster Hunter and Dragon Warrior, two recent Sony staples, switching sides to Nintendo, the 3DS is inches away from being a rolling stone of sales in the East. And to add to that, the WiiU got its first major player come launch time. So despite your grumblings about the newest machines from the Big N, if they keep getting news like this, then they are definitely here to stay. Monster Hunter will definitely save the 3DS, and I predict an explosive debut of the WiiU if Nintendo and Square Enix manages to release Dragon Quest X in the correct timeframe.


Okay Nintendo, let's now focus on the Western Hemisphere gamers....

Unpause the Damn Game!: The Super Smash Bros 4 Hopeful 10

Unpause the Damn Game!: The Super Smash Bros 4 Hopeful 10: Still have no high hopes for the Wii U. With the Wii U coming out next year, or next, the top series’ in Nintendo will be having new i...

The Dying Days of JRPGs

The funny thing about video games is that there are a variety of genres that come and go in terms of popularity, appeal, fame, and quantity. Every generation we see different genres rise and different ones fall. Back in the 90s in the SNES days, it was the platform games that absolutely ruled with Mario, Sonic, and Donkey Kong at the helm. Nowadays, unless it’s Mario, your platform game is probably non-existent. Back in the 90s, shooters were demoted to being half-arsed PC games. And then Goldeneye bolted the door open. Now in the last generation, we saw a mammoth rise of first-person shooters that obliterated the sales charts—with Call of Duty leading the way. As for the genre that’s dying in recent days? JRPGs. Your Final Fantasies, Chrono Triggers, Dragon Quests, Square Enix games are quickly declining in popularity and soon enough I predict that these types of games will become extinct in the coming years.



Will there still be JRPGs? Of course there will….at the most three of them. After all, Pokemon is technically a JRPG and it has no signs of slowing down anytime soon. But the abundance, quantity, and sheer number of JRPGs will be limited to endangered species level. Remember the 90s? Sword of Mana. Dragon Quest. Chrono Trigger. Final Fantasy V. Final Fantasy VI. Final Fantasy VII. Illusion of Gaia. Tales of Phantasia. Earthbound. Super Mario RPG. Star Ocean. Breath of Fire. Breath of Fire II. Pokemon Blue. Final Fantasy Legend. That’s just the good JRPGs, I haven’t gotten around to mentioning the bad ones. Look at now, where are they? While the 90s franchises for the most part carried over to the latter generations (Mario, Sonic, Zelda, GTA, etc.), the only ones still running today from the list I just mentioned are....Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Pokemon.


So what’s happening? JRPGs just don’t have the cultural and significant effect that it used to have. But the potentially biggest factor in the decrease of RPGs is that the two biggest companies for making JRPGs back in the SNES/PSX generations had merged forces (Square Soft, Enix) back in 2003. With this blending of two RPG-laden companies, it lead to less competition and less games in the RPG department overall. And it also doesn’t help that they aren’t as daring or as good as they used to be. The recent Final Fantasy games while remaining slightly successful in Japan are bumming out in the rest of the world. Oh, and it doesn’t help that the recent Final Fantasies are miserable when compared to the likes of III, V, VI, VII, and arguably even VIII.

And eventually they will make Kingdom Hearts III.

Eventually.


Back in the 90s (recurring theme, I know) both companies were consistent in trying out new ideas and branching out new franchises while delivering quality sequels every now and again. We get none of those traces today. For some odd reason, they just gave up on franchises like Chrono, Breath of Fire, Mana, and many more. In the meantime, they churn out dozens of midquels, spin-offs, and retreads of Kingdom Hearts games. What hurts the most to me is the lack of sequels to the spectacular Chrono games and the long-delayed sequel to Super Mario RPG. I want my Geno and Mallow back, darn it!


The other companies that also made its share of grand RPGs have also scaled back in quantity numbers....or just cease to exist altogether. For a great example there’s Namco and their underused franchises Tales and Xenosaga. Namco really dropped the ball when they didn’t expand upon the surprise-surprise success of Tales of Symphonia for the Nintendo Gamecube. They could have had a major resurgence by building upon the high sales of the action-RPG by providing some sequels and some games that never left Japan. Instead they water down the Gamecube hit for the PS2, leading to dismal sales, and then hand the next sequel to.......the PS2. Now, the Tales series is a mere memory, when it could have been a heavy-hitter here in the States.


And then of course, the forever-heartbreaking shenanigans of Nintendo. Nintendo is an example few gamers would actually use even though its RPG history is almost a rich as Sony’s. They participated in Super Mario RPG, which was one of the best RPGs of all time back in 1996. And then there’s the Earthbound franchise, whose crazy views of American culture and style crafted a cult audience that to this day have remained consistently disappointed in the lack of progress. Last but not least is the Pokemon franchise. While it’s still a cash cow and a powerhouse franchise, it’s still nowhere near what it can be. And yes, you’ve heard this from me before. Many times.


To add a little salt to the wound, Nintendo isn’t pushing its second-party companies that much either. Game Freak of course being the main example (who have yet to top Pokemon Silver, a 2000 GB title), but then there’s also Camelot. And Genius Sorority. And Creatures. Camelot has created some RPG gems over the years (The RPG Mario Sports games on the GBC/GBA are underrated works of excellence) but spent SEVEN years in between Golden Sun games. This comes during a generation that gives us a Call of Duty game every single year. Seven years gave us 4 Halo games. Seven years gave us four Mario adventures in the main timeline. Hell, we even got three Metroid games. Lastly, Creatures is responsible for the Earthbound franchise, which we all know has gone nowhere in over a decade. There just isn’t much of a push for more RPGs on Nintendo’s end. And don’t even get me started on Operation Rainfall.


So the question is are we going to miss the JRPGs when they totally disappear from American soil? Or has this blend of games become dated like run-n-gun shooters, shoot em’ ups, and Crash Bandicoot? What looks like is happening is that JRPGs are being pushed aside in favor of the Eastern Hemisphere RPGs, or the real-time RPGs. While JRPGs tend to evolve much too slowly (if at all), we have seen great progress in other RPG franchises outside the Japanese field and influence. Games like Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and especially Mass Effect have pushed the envelope in the role-playing department, while games like Bioshock, System Shock, and even Grand Theft Auto are evolving a bit by adding RPG elements. What has Pokemon done lately? Nothing. Final Fantasy? Ruined itself. Dragon Quest? Stayed mightily traditional---like a candle going up against light bulbs. JRPGs need to take a page from Super Mario and learn that as the gaming industry evolves, improves, and becomes more advanced, they must cater to these changes and try to keep up. Don't lose the roots, but improve the branches. That was a tree analogy, yes it was.


Bottom Line: I predict that JRPGs outside the worlds of Pokemon and Dragon Quest are going to cease to exist soon.......very soon. In this next generation, we are going to see much less Japanese role-playing games and more Western RPGs taking form and controlling the RPG crowd. Almost all the franchises I mentioned earlier just won’t see a future as they are losing exposure and appeal to gamers worldwide. And we still won’t get that Earthbound sequel. And Square Enix will still suck and be a shadow of what they used to be. And worst of all, I just don’t see a second or third-party developer rising to the challenge and give us a barrage of original stories compact with excellent Japanese-influenced gameplay---like in the 90s.

JRPGs, it’s been nice knowing you, but Westerners are surpassing you in nearly every category in terms of the genre you guys once ruled with an iron fist.

I predict your days are soon over.

Enjoy them while you can.