![]() ![]() ![]() 07 Mar 2010 - Why I love these (not so) Final Fantasies 1:37 pm Final Fantasy XIII is launching next week, and I’m geeking out like a six year old waiting for Christmas. It’s amazing how I still anticipate the launch of an FF game. My age, my few years in the games industry, my bitterness about sequelitis and the popularity of the FPS have beaten down the excitement I generally feel about game launches. I’m a skeptic, at times even a cynic, about The Next Big Thing™. But when Square Enix see fit to unleash a new numbered Final Fantasy title upon the world, my negativity dissolves and I turn into the same raging fanboy I was in July of 1991, 11 years old, begging my parents to take me to Toys R Us to buy Final Fantasy IV. I hear a lot of hate for the FF games in this business. Maybe it’s just the people I surround myself with (I seem to have a knack for landing jobs with PC-centric, FPS-loving studios), but I usually feel like the odd man out for loving these games, and I really have trouble understanding where the hate comes from. I’ll admit, they’re not the deepest games ever made. Their stories are pretty linear, they don’t give you much choice, their art style tends to borrow a lot from the previous games and there’s LOTS of story, mostly told through cinematics. But I’m willing to forgive these elements. Why? When I pick up a new, numbered Final Fantasy game (as opposed to the numerous spinoffs), there are a handful of things I can always count on: An Amazing World Attention to Detail A Well-Written Story Bang for Buck Nostalgia Innovation I wonder if the negativity aimed at this franchise by some western developers is truly a dislike of the game style, or simply envy. A Final Fantasy game is always a big budget affair with a mind-blowing level of polish and attention to detail, and their effort is rewarded in critical acclaim and sales. XIII currently has a GameRankings average of 82.9% (PS3 version), making it one of the lowest scores ever in the main franchise. Some devs may hate these games, but when 83% is your low point in a franchise that has spanned thirteen titles so far, I’d say you’re doing something very, very right. No Comments![]() 03 Mar 2010 - GDC, and Kurzweil was right 11:06 pm I’ll be at GDC next week. I’ll be at various audio gatherings and sessions, so if you see me, say hi! I’m looking forward to it, haven’t been since 2006. There are some interesting audio sessions this year, including a keynote from one of my biggest professional influences: Akira Yamaoka. It’s going to be an amazing week. If you want to bump into me, shoot me an email, give me a ring or just stalk me. Whatever’s clever! Also, Singularity is making good progress. I’ve spent the last week addressing platform consistency issues. That should tell you how close we are. The mix is shaping up and I’m very excited about how the game has come along in recent months. I think everyone’s going to dig it. No more for tonight. I’ll post some about GDC after I return. No Comments![]() 04 Nov 2009 - New games, speaking engagements 1:16 pm Four and a half months since my last post. Wow. Sorry, been busy! Crunch will do that to a person. In that time, two new games have been released that I had involvement. The biggest of the two is Forza Motorsport 3, the newest iteration of the acclaimed racing franchise from Turn 10. The game has done incredibly well since its release in late October, achieving an average of 93 on Metacritic. This is the highest rated game I’ve ever been involved with, and I am ecstatic about its reception. The other recent release is Gearbox Software’s Borderlands, a hybrid role-playing/shooter with more than a hint of Diablo-style gameplay. It too has done well, floating around the 84% mark on GameRankings, and selling strongly. I spent some time on this project before I made the move to Raven. There’s a demo available for Forza 3 on the Xbox Live Marketplace. No word on a demo for Borderlands yet. In other news, I recently spoke to two groups of students from Flashpoint Academy in Chicago, discussing the basics of what game audio people do every day and how to get a job in this particular field (ProTip: hire a hitman, then apply for the mark’s job). I’ll be part of a panel of game audio professionals at the November 19th IGDA Madison chapter meeting (7PM at Roman Candle in Middleton), discussing some audio topic that is yet to be determined. So if you’re in the area, stop by! That is all! I’ll try to update again before March! No Comments![]()
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