You Have Lost!

Ever since the PlayStation 3 ‘tech demo’ of Final Fantasy VII was shown at 2005’s Sony Press Conference, the clamour and demand for a FF7 remake with next-gen graphics and tweaks has risen exponentially - and that’s just within myself. That video gave me goosebumps, shivers and, I’m not afraid to say, a raging erection. It was just too sexy for words, so I won’t use any more and leave it at that. Final Fantasy VII is without doubt one of the best videogames ever made, and the chance to enjoy it again in a modern engine is one I fervently hope we all get the chance to do.

If I were to make a list of classic videogames that I’d want to be remade, Final Fantasy VII would certainly be at the top, possibly circled eight times in red ink with hearts and stars surrounding it. I suspect if you were to scroll down that list it wouldn’t be too long until you found Street Fighter II, Capcom’s iconic fighter of 1991. Street Fighter II took what was quickly becoming a dull genre and transformed it into something that remains at the forefront of gaming today, thanks to its emphasis on simple moves, blocking and balance. Whether it’s Virtua Fighter, Soulcalibur or Tekken, the modern-day fighter still relies on concepts and principles set out by Street Fighter II.

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In 2005 my girlfriend got me Lego Star Wars: The Video Game as one of a few gifts for our one-year anniversary.  According to her I hadn’t stopped talking about it and she knew it was the one present she absolutely had to get. This was news to me - I really didn’t want to rent it or even try a demo, let alone have it bought for me - I was pretty sceptical as soon as I saw the word ‘Lego’ followed closely by the words ‘Star Wars’. Of course if I had sat down and thought about the coming together of two of the most popular franchises in the world I would have realised what would happen and what is the case today - that Lego Star Wars is a commercial phenomenon. Thanks to my girlfriend’s ignorance of my wants and desires I was able to find out that it wasn’t a bad game either. In fact it was a lot of fun, especially its co-operative mode which proved to be damn addictive. It was no masterpiece but it didn’t need to be - that was its charm.

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[Warning: This post is written for those who have finished GTA IV and does contain some dialogue and plotline spoilers]

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”
T.S. Eliot

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That’s right, folks - I’m still here and still alive (just about). So where have I been? Well, I’ve not been too well and certainly not well enough to write here or indeed to even actually game for most of last month. I won’t bore you with the ugly details (because I disgust my readers enough as it is). However, the good news is that I’m on the mend and my gaming chair has been starting to get warm up again thanks to return of my gaming buttocks. So what has kept me gaming on my afore-mentioned gaming buttocks this week?

Well, check out my currently playing page to see. I’ll be writing more about a certain game I’ve just completed on Monday… here’s a clue: “Happiness is… Land”.  Anyway, I do once again apologise for the lack of updates. I guess the only consolation is that May is usually, and once again was, a quiet time for the industry. So at least the lull in articles matches the lull in videogames. Stop looking at me like that, it’s legitimate. Anyway, starting next week I’ll be back to posting 3-4 articles each week. Huzzah indeed.  

(PS: The only reason that picture’s up is because I wish I had those slippers)