Like gazillions of other folks, I picked up my collector’s edition FFXII tonight and man am I loving this new packaging style (it’s the same case they used for Resident Evil 4 collector’s). Definitely worth the extra 10 bucks IMO + there’s a bonus DVD. I’m also glad that despite ignoring progressive scan, they added a true widescreen mode. Sadly, I’m knee deep in Valkyrie Profile 2 (beginning of Chapter 4), so I probably won’t get to this for a couple of weeks. Can’t wait to try out the new battle system and see if this truly does live up to the hype.

When Lowenstein mentioned big changes for E3, many of us tried to look at bigger picture optimistically. It’s been obvious over the past few years that the direction of the trade show began to lose focus. Instead of sticking mostly to a business oriented event, E3 felt like the equivalent of a Hollywood production gone astray. Developers agreed they were losing lots of money that was being poured into creating huge extravagant booths and hiring attractive models as a means to draw attention to their upcoming lineup. And then there was the issue with the population level which ultimately made it extremely difficult for media, publishers and retailers to effectively conduct business.

Finally, the ESA said enough was enough. E3 2006 was the last hurrah at the LACC (which can’t possibly be good news for the city of Los Angeles who’ve come to rely on the annual event) in favor of a smaller, more controlled setup: hotels. In a recent interview with GameIndustry.biz, Lowensten states the following: “By combining suite-based meetings with the software showcase in a controlled and business-like environment, we believe we will successfully fulfill our primary objective of giving high-level media the best of all worlds — the chance to engage in highly personal, one-on-one dialogue with leading game company executives, as well as the chance to demo games on their own time and to check out offerings from both the best known and emerging game publishers and developers,” said Lowenstein. “It will also provide an excellent opportunity for meetings with retailers, developers and other audiences.”

Reading between the lines, this basically says “unless you’re one of the major destinations like IGN, Gamespy, 1up, GameSpot, TeamXbox, Joystiq or Kotaku…you’re out of the circle”. Previously known as E3 2007, the new official name is entitled E3 Media and Business Summit, scheduled to be held on July 11-13 in Santa Monica, CA.

I applaud ESA’s objective to streamline E3’s overall focus, but I not too fond of the idea about the presentations being hosted in hotels. Even more disappointing is the fact the “major showcase” for attendees will be held in Barker Hangar. Sorry, it doesn’t matter how well they pimp that place out — holding a gaming showcase in a hangar is extremely cheesy in my opinion.

I’m curious as to what the gaming enthusiast community think about this since a large chunk of us will now be missing out one on the most exciting annual events in North America. It seems that most of us will end up giving our patronage to events like PAX (which saw a HUGE increase this year) and VGXPO. Perhaps this is all for the best… it’s too early to decide.

All I can say is: WOW.
http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3901&

This is what happens when online retailers can’t play nice with videogame corporations. Some will say “they had it coming.” Others will not be pleased by this at all because Lik-Sang has been an exceptional resource for all their consume needs. Either way, their absence will be felt. Could Play-Asia be next?

Jack Thompson and his uneducated media cronies are at it again. Attempting to raise the country’s “awareness”, but instead finding success in raising my blood pressure instead. For months before the game’s release, Rockstar’s newest game Bully has under the mal-informed watchful eye of Jack Thompson and other foolish parent groups. All of them crying out for the government to parent their children for them.

Nevermind the fact that this game is not the “Columbine simulator” that they call it, and go ahead and disregard this game’s premise entirely. I could sit around and argue the specifics of this particular game until I was blue in the face. However, the simple fact is it has nothing to do with this game in specific. This game is just another reason for the undereducated masses and irresponsible parents to pass the buck once again.

I am still not quite sure why games like these are constantly under the gun for mature or violent content, since these games are not typically targeted at children. Let’s look up a statistic from May of this year: “The ESA reported today that the average video game player’s age is 33 years old.” Amazing discovery, most gamers are not children at all! Let’s forget for a minute that the fines are stiffer for video game stores selling mature games to minors than they are for gas stations selling minors cigarettes and pretend that children did find an unscrupulous dealer. I attempt to avoid violent action in almost all my daily routines. I don’t even kill spiders, but instead catch and release them outside. I also have been playing video games for almost 20 years. Some of my favorites as a child were Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, Duke Nukem, Contra, Mortal Kombat, and plenty of others. Am I smarter than other people? Am I somehow magically able to see through the insanely difficult ruse that video games and life are not the same thing? The answer is no. My parents just did their jobs.

There are countless ways parents can handle these situations. They could approach it from the easiest method, and check out the ESRB rating. There is a reason that rating is there. It helps parents in the same way movie ratings, TV ratings, and parental advisory warnings help to educate in the most basic of ways. There’s a big indicator that lets you know if something is AO or M, saying to parents that it may not be suitable for children. Another way is to spend 5 minutes looking on one of the thousands of video game sites like Gamespot, IGN, or Got-Next and get a little information about the games. Another simple solution is to actually spend time with their children and help to put things in to perspective. Parents, as well as the media, need to find themselves more educated in the face of this growing media outlet. Understanding what they are dealing with and being educated on what these things mean is the only way to effectively handle any situation.

The media should have learned its lesson by now. For years it has been music influencing children. If it wasn’t the Columbine shooters being influenced by Marylin Manson, it was Charles Manson under the influence of The Beatles and their Helter Skelter song. Or perhaps the media taking a stab at movies or tv and the violence it portrays. Even further back than that, it was books that were poisoning our youth. Unfortunately for the masses, there is someone out there somewhere thinking that we are too stupid to understand what we are looking at. Although, I haven’t seen anyone taking a stab at something that DOESN’T ask people to see the difference between reality and fantasy… The news. I have found myself unable to stomach watching the news on several occasions, as I have found more objectionable material and horrifying violence there than in any fantasy-based game. I fail to see how we can ask to take the violence out of video games when we can’t take it out of our own culture.

Video games today are another scapegoat for media scrutiny just as music, movies, and television have been for decades. Educate yourselves, parents and media, and then educate your children and put everything in perspective. Video games are no more an effective scapegoat than any other artistic medium.

Special thanks to Q for royally screwing everyone over with Lumines Live and its ridiculous pricing scheme. That’s not to say that I won’t be buying it. I guess I’m just part of the problem.

I actually wouldn’t be a complainer had they released it with the original track list (including Mondo Grosso and Eri Nobuchika) from its PSP papa, but I suppose that’ll probably come later in a “Triple Bonus Pack” for the price of a ridiculous $7.50. Awesome.