3rd Gen Pokemon Remakes Are Probably Coming, But Eh

If you take a look at this Siliconera post you'll see a few screenshots from various sources that would generally hint towards a Ruby and Sapphire remake.  However, if you would just pay attention to...just about anything and use your own common sense, you would already know that these things are things that are going to happen.  It's not even called pattern recognition, noting that the first and second gens have seen remakes, or anything like that.  It is, quite literally, just common sense, because all it does is make sense for Nintendo to go this route.  Because it makes money, and what Nintendo really needs to do is bolster their Wii U division while they get the games on it, and the way they do that is by making a ton of money in the handheld division.

The biggest arguments against Nintendo making Ruby and Sapphire remakes basically come from people who refuse to believe Nintendo wants to do it because....reasons, I suppose.  When you point out that Red and Blue (Green) were remade, they say "Well yeah, they were the first ones, it was a special thing", and when you point out that Gold and Silver were remade, they go "Well yeah, but that was because of the improvements made, and because they wanted to do the Pokewalker thing".  When you say that that is just what Nintendo does, they go, "Oh yeah, because they're doing all the same things, right, and that's why we got Pokemon Grey?"  To that point, all I have to say is thus:

Hey.  You.  Listen.  We didn't get Pokemon Grey, true.  We didn't get one bridging game with a few new features.  We got two bridging games that follow the "Please buy both" philosophy with a few new features, further pointing in the direction of Nintendo wants your fucking money.  "But Mogs, Black and White 2 were full-fledged sequels and it wasn't just like a potential Grey cas-" Hush.  Black and White 2 were -far- less taxing than something like X and Y, a brand new iteration, and was probably only mildly more intensive than a theoretical 'Grey' so it existed somewhere in the grey space (heh) between a Grey and X/Y.  In other words, it was not as dramatic a departure from the release formula as you might expect, and thus it doesn't disprove the potential of a Ruby/Sapphire remake release in the least.

It's not to say that I even -want- a Ruby/Sapphire remake, however, because I didn't even particularly care for Gen 3.  I know I say a lot of negative stuff about Pokemon as a whole, which is why I'm going to try to reign it in here, but Gen 3 was, outside of the important changes to the battle system, the worst gen to date.  Fresh off the amazing things that Gold and Silver did - the Poke'Gear, Radio stuff, introducing the Day/Night Cycle and letting you go back to the original region for a whole new Gym-crawl - Ruby/Sapphire basically only brought the Special Attack/Defense split and regressed beyond that, resulting in -massive- steps back.  Sure, the region was alright.  It looked nice for the time.  And the new Pokemon were pretty cool.  However, the mechanics, as stated, were abysmally behind-the-times they had instated themselves, and the story was -terrible-.  I know, I know, we don't play Pokemon for the story, but that doesn't let it get a pass for being the most bullshit thing this side of Black/White's main storyline.

It's all a bit moot, however, since I will be first in line to buy a Ruby remake even though I've decried Gen 3 for as long as I've been playing Pokemon and Gen 3 was a thing.  I will put down money for it, play it and probably bitch the whole time, but at least I realize that I am part of the problem.  But I can't help it because the allure of Pokemon is something that no other company has fine-tuned just yet and until they have, I will probably keep getting drawn back in, over and over again, kicking and screaming the whole time.  Who knows, one of these times, they might just implement the improvements to the formula that we all wa-

Hahahahahaha

that joke will never get old, unfortunately

XBox One - The Fallout

Yes, it's off-center, yes it bugs me

So, Tuesday was the day.  The day when Microsoft threw off the veil of the NeXtBox and dispelled all of the negative rumors that were swirling around it, tarnishing its image before it was even anno-

Oh, right.

That is not what Microsoft did at all.  In fact, it only seemed to confirm a bunch of rumors that were almost laughable to consider as rumors, not to mention the actual, honest truth.  And what it didn't outright confirm is still in a sort of nebulous half-truth-nobody-is-sure space that only Microsoft (and to a degree, Sony and Nintendo) can actually manage to do with this sort of thing.  Perhaps it's inherently tactile, some of this knowledge, but not a whole lot of it.  Certainly not the information that is the most important, which is what I'm going to head this up with - the information about the Anti-Used Game deal.

Much like the Always-Online thing, I don't know what to say about the Anti-Used thing going forward.  I sort of already said how I think they might spin it if they run with it, with the "Incentivised Purchases" or however they'll state it, but it's a hard thing to consider, because it's hard to figure how they won't make it positively Draconian.  Project Ten Dollar, the thing that sort of started Online Passes (for consoles at least) to 'combat the Used Market' is officially being put out to pasture but, being EA, nobody is very interested in thinking that this move is because EA cares.  Which lends credence to the idea that the NeXtBox might have this functionality (so that EA won't have to mandate it themselves) and as a result, EA/Microsoft might be really really tight Next Gen.  Which would, of course, give Microsoft a very nice incentive right there to do it, since it'll likely mean a lot of stuff that is exclusive to the NeXtBox from EA as a whole.  It'd be an unprecedented partnership (ha!) and it would be very, very dangerous for Sony and Nintendo (though not the PC market, since they'll likely get it on Origin anyway).

-Me from This Post, "Let's Speculate About the NeXtBox"

I am going to say that, more or less, I friggin' called how this was going to play out....if not for this particular sentence that finished off that paragraph.

For my part, I'm saying it won't be there, but whether or not that's more hope than thought is up in the air.

Oh, how naive I was.

To be fair, the only part that I was 100% on for sure that we know of at this point is that EA and Microsoft have that 'special partnership' that I speculated about, what with coming out in force to the event today, speaking of and showing off no less than four games, while also stating that something to do with the next FIFA will be Exclusive to The One.  Depending on how this whole cluster-fuck plays out (seriously, 24+ hours later and we still don't have a clear fucking answer because Microsoft doesn't even know), that may very well just be the norm for the generation, since this functionality is built directly into the XBone (that is what we're calling it, btw) and may or may not have been EA's dark bidding if we're buying into conspiracy theories.  Though the curious thing is that a lot of defenders are coming out and saying, "Well if the XBone has it, the PS4 -definitely- has it." and no, it doesn't definitely have it.  Allow me to quote myself.  Again.

Let's all remember something about EA. EA wasn't at the PS4 reveal. EA was at the One reveal in force. So, yes, maybe we can assume that Sony might not actually adopt this Used Game thing. And maybe we can assume Microsoft did it to score a ton of EA exclusives for the entire up-coming generation. Because if you are EA, this is fucking majestic.

-You can still release whatever you want for both the PS4/One.
-People -might- choose the One version of EA Sports Game because of Exclusive stuff, but you're still getting people buying PS4 versions of your games. Namely, everyone who didn't want to buy the One.
-Sweet, sweet Microsoft cash.
-You get to do away with a program that was only causing sustained PR backlash against you and was confusing your customers.

It is Win-Win-Win for EA. Microsoft thinks it's Win-Win for them as well since the Exclusive content might sway some buyers between versions. It still might be.

-From my post on the matter in the Penny Arcade thread for the XBone

It is a ridiculously good coup for EA if this is the scenario that's going forward, which I could really, truly imagine is the case.  Game and Console developers have selective and short-term memory, so they will take the fact that third-party software has sold the best on the 360 this gen and literally make decisions about next gen on -that- piece of information alone.  It's like the Wii U situation, but in reverse, yet it is still a large thing of bet-hedging and it still carries the massive risk for backfire.  So, is it possible that Microsoft went "Hey, EA, we sold a bunch more of your games than the PS3" and EA went "Oh, yeah, you did.  So, hey...let's talk shop" and thus the idea was born.  It is entirely possible that a Microsoft/EA partnership is an attempt to solidify Microsoft's tenuous hold on this generation and to make a foothold in the next that will leave Sony out of the equation entirely.  It is entirely possible that this is going to backfire tremendously!

It occurs to me that I haven't even explained this whole Used Games thing, so I should rightly get to that.  Of course, I will only be explaining the version that Phil Harrison initially stated (I am loathe to source Kotaku, much less Jason Schreier, but everything since is running with the back-peddled statements) because it is the only version of this whole scenario that was coherent and while it was later contradicted by Phil Harrison himself as well as like every single branch of Microsoft's Gaming Division PR, it was only contradicted in opposites ('oh no, this is not the case at -all-') or with vagueness ('we will reveal the actual plan at a later date') and is thus unreliable contradiction even though it casts doubt on the original statement.  You might want to strap in for this one.

So, the example provided is that you go and buy the latest greatest game for your XBone, go home and open it up, eager to play.  You slot the disk and it 'instantly' rips the contents of the disk to the HDD, much like a PC, while also asking you for the code that's located in the case.  This is something we're use to by this point.  Then something else happens, however.  The code authenticates through the internet and that game, and that disk are tied to your XBox Live account.  That means exactly what you think it means - that disk is -yours- now.  Furthering the example, you take that disk to your buddy who also has an XBone and slot it in.  "I want to play it on my account", he says, which is perfectly reasonable since it is his XBone.  The prompt comes up an informs him the game is tied to a different account, but if he would like, he can pay the Full Retail price of the game to have access to it forever.  His friend has essentially become a GameStop delivery-boy, bringing him the disk so that he may spend the dollars in the comfort of his own home, sparing him all of the hassle of the outside world and possibly physical currency.

This is obviously the step put in place to keep you from just installing the game onto your XBone and selling it straight-away.  PC gamers have been used to this for 10+ years.  It is obviously the step EA feared implementing with Project Ten Dollar, as they simply resorted to making your disk worth -less- (rather than worthless, see what I did there) without a slip of paper that hadn't already been used.  Which is pretty much why I'm still suggesting that this is an EA idea through-and-through and that it's attached to the XBone which just so happens to have EA's full backing (whereas the PS4 and especially the Wii U don't) through no coincidence.  People thinking that Sony will reveal similar plans around E3 time are only moderately right to be worried (which basically accounts for paranoia and the thought that anyone, Sony especially, will always screw up given a golden ticket to -not- screw up with).

This is unquestionably the biggest thing that came from the conference, which is hilarious since nothing was actually said about it -during- the conference that went on for-fucking-ever to no avail for people looking to be interested in anything.  In fact, no single thing aside from the name are things that came from the conference itself that are actually being talked about.  Nobody cares about the NFL partnership, especially everyone who doesn't live in North America, nobody cares about TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV, especially everyone who doesn't live in North America, and the games they showed off were not only expected, but wholly underwhelming in terms of number shown.  Because the number (EA not counted because, again, SPORTS) was three.  Two of them exclusive - Forza and Quantum Break - with the third one being Call of Duty:  Ghosts which was announced, what, a month ahead of time?

It's an unfair truth that people care more about negativity than positivity, but it's a truth nonetheless and you are always in a constant need to overcome that when you're announcing anything.  Microsoft didn't consider this at all, or, worse, they honestly thought being able to play Fantasy Football on your XBone while integrated with NFL '14 would be exciting enough to pull away from some of the other things they decided to speak on after-the-fact.  That being able to use a TV Guide through Kinect would make up for the used games thing.  That a Halo TV series directed by Spielberg was going to assuage the fact that it has to check-in once every 24 hours so you can use it.  That the new-and-improved (supposedly) controller with a better D-Pad would make up for....like everything else because I cannot glean any other single good point from the whole of it, manufactured by them or not.

The unfortunate reality to it is that Microsoft simply did not pull off a good presser on any level and anyone who doesn't have the utmost confidence and faith in Microsoft's ability to put out a 'good' product (subjective use, of course) can see that.  This isn't a 'fanboy' thing even though it's very obvious that I have a very Sony slant and openly admit that.  There simply wasn't enough in the presser (hell, even in the after-talks where a couple nice things actually were mentioned, like Ryse being confirmed as a game exclusive to the XBone and the friend limit getting increased to 1,000, which is actually kind of staggering) to make it entertaining for anyone.  Gamers, tech-heads, sports fans, none of them.  I'm well aware that there are the defenders of it out there and I'm not even saying they're wrong - they're just excited for the system and more power to them for that - I just don't understand it, even on an objective level.

I can't even say "We'll just have to look forward to E3 and see how they fix it" because I don't see how any of this can be fixed unless the actual system is completely changed - which would be a worrying idea this close to launch anyway.  Their showing at E3 will certainly be interesting however, and while I'm sure at least one of their exclusive games will be a big deal (I hope, at least), I don't rightly think they can pull out anything, anything that will be holy-shit-big-enough to do anything to really improve themselves in the public eye.  Still, I think it's, hilariously, going to be less about the games and more about the damage control that will keep things from getting too catastrophic for them.  Yet, I'm just curious if they'll manage to say and promise the right combination of things (and mean them) to get back to the level where their machine actually makes sense.

really, the 24-hour check-in is the most offensive thing to me personally at this point, but the rest is still bullshit

NeXtBox Reveal Scheduled for May 21st

There's no uncertain terms used here, no rumor, no speculation about it - this is direct from the source.  The reveal for the NeXtBox is the 21st, 19 days before their E3 conference.  So, if nothing else, now we actually have confirmation that there is a NeXtBox that is happening.  Even though it was obvious that there was and all that, nothing's true until it's confirmed, etc. etc. all that stuff.

On Tuesday May 21^st, we’ll mark the beginning of a new generation of games, TV and entertainment. On that day, we’ll be holding a special press event on the Xbox campus and we invite you to join us via the live global stream that will be available on Xbox LIVE and Xbox.com. If you are in the US or Canada, you can also watch the broadcast on Spike TV.

On that day, we’ll share our vision for Xbox, and give you a real taste of the future. Then, 19-days later at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, we’ll continue the conversation and showcase our full lineup of blockbuster games.

We are thrilled to pull back the curtain and reveal what we’ve been working on.

Should you want to tune in to see just what in the hell about the machine is actually going to get confirmed and what isn't, your options are pretty simple:  XBox.com, XBox Live and Spike TV for USA and Canada - the former because it's obvious and the latter because Spike is always doing gaming-centric things like this without relying on it.  You like, like G4 did.  You remember G4, right?  No?  Well...that's about what I've got on that part...Moving on then.

The current standing on the rumor mill seems to be as thus:

• The Console will be Always Online meaning if you have no internet, you have no games.  Another, new-ish rumor states it as "must be Internet-Connected to use", yet tries to differentiate from "Always Online" which suggests perhaps a check-in thing at starting a game, similar to Steam.  Still, no internet means you can't start a game in that case, so it's not much better if true.
• There's possibly an "XBox Mini" component to the NeXtBox that will allow Backwards Compatibility...in a very complicated way.  Though a digital-only box (if stand-alone), it can connect to your NeXtBox to allow you to play your 360 titles (Digital and Disk-based, using the NeXtBox Disk drive, but the box's hardware) on your NeXtBox instead of just on the 360 itself.  Think Sega.  The newer rumor dictates that this unit was designated "Yuma" and is indefinitely delayed.
• As per those conflicting rumors, Backwards Compatibility is up in the air leaning towards "No, not going to happen".
• Windows 8 Base (ugh)
• Two models, two pricetags - a Stand-alone unit for $499 and a Model where you're locked into Live for 2 years (at $10/month) at $299 (So, end price $548)
• Every model ships with a Kinect 2.0 that will be integrated into the console from the get-go, meaning it might start being 'required' by games
• 2013 Holiday launch
• The technical specs will be roughly around the PS4's, though possibly with less RAM and/or lesser quality RAM

First off, no way are we getting a price or a proper release window on the 21st, so let's just not worry about that right now.  Those will be E3 announcements and if they're not, then they're going into E3 with a lot of steam built-up already, or a lot of ire that the actual conference will become secondary to end-capping the price, whatever it ends up being. The XBox Mini rumor is so goddamn convoluted that I didn't care to write about it when it came out and I almost left it out here, but since it's in the new-ish rumor page about the Internet-Connected bit, it was officially 'enough' for me to mention it.  That rumor also negates it, so it's probably not happening, but it possibly could still, I guess.  I hope not because it sounds like a lot more trouble than it's worth since it's not going to be something you can just plug into the NeXtBox and work off that power, so it'll be two draws and goddamnit, just buy a 360.  The NeXtBox likely cannot upscale Halo 4 enough that it's worth the hassle.

Backwards Compatibility is likely a no-go, which is sort of a bigger issue for the NeXtBox than it is the PS4, though it's still a very big issue for the PS4 as well.  For a while, XBox Live Arcade was the place to be if you were a digital-focused developer, and with as many promotions and all the weight that XBLA built up because of that focus, there is just a higher-probability that you have digital games on a 360 than a PS3.  And that you're much more attached to those because of some of the ones that have remained exclusive, or the ones that you have unfinished cheevos with or what have you.  Basically, there was always talk about how XBLA was a 'bigger deal' than PSN and now, for better or worse, that school of thought is going to bite back if it's true.  And if the structure of the NeXtBox is so radically different (and in-line with what the PS4 is, more or less) then yeah, it's hard to imagine XBLA/360 games will emulate on it natively.  I'm hopeful, but I was hopeful for the PS4 as well.

The price thing, even though it won't be touched on, is what really riles me up more than anything at this point, however.  I absolutely cannot fucking stand the 'subscription-subsidized' pricing model and I wish it would fucking die.  Yes, I realize that it's the 'right thing' for a lot of people because it's easier to scrape together X amount of money at any one given time than Y amount and sometimes 'just save up' isn't viable because money just kind of goes places.  I understand this.  Here's the rub though:  nobody fucking cares.  This isn't the reason why this sort of thing exists, it's not something to help folks get in by letting them pay less up-front.  It's about making more in the end and it's about marketing.  The $99 dollar 360 exists solely so Microsoft can get away with saying "The XBox 360 is only $99" because it's technically true since you're only paying $99 initially for the box.  But you're not leaving said store with only $99 gone from your account (not accounting from tax) and it's a shit-head practice because of that.  That it's going to continue into next gen (and it is, I have no doubt about that) bothers the shit out of me for fear that it will begin to edge out proper purchasing methods.

Anyway, the stuff that isn't the release window and price will likely get talked about in so many ways on the 21st and, for better or worse, we'll finally have a sort of PS4/NeXtBox comparison readily available.  We'll finally be able to see those two, plus the Wii U and really know what's going to be up with the next five or so years in gaming.  It's....actually almost a little much to think about.  It's a  lot to worry about as well, since even if you're not planning on buying a NeXtBox (Which a lot of people honestly aren't, thanks to the Always Online concerns) it will be a big deal, and it will have some sort of impact on the gaming ecosystem in some form.  There will be people who will say that it does and will affect it in a bad way, and it's just up in the air for now as to how many will say it and how 'right' they actually are about that.

Well, This is Something - REVENGEANCE Trophy List Mentions "PS Vita"

Earlier today, after I got my Platinum Trophy for Guacamelee! I checked my trophies just for posterity and noticed something....strange.  Something new.  As you see above, the entry for Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE suddenly has PS Vita listed in its trophy section.  A quick Googling reveals that, no there isn't any news about this that I managed to miss, but I am not alone in noticing it either.  Obviously the idea is that this points to a possibility that REVENGEANCE will see a Vita port despite past suggestions that it would not, but it could just as easily be some kind of error.  And while I obviously would hope for the former, I'm not going to suggest that the latter is the more obvious of the two possibilities.  Even though the former would be really, really cool....in theory.

So let's play around with the theory for a bit.  Let's say that, despite all previous indication, Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE is indeed heading for the Vita in some form.  That right there is the first question - what form is it going to come in?  Physical and digital is almost a given, but more to the point, I meant what state of being.  Since the PS3 and 360 versions are already out and have DLC put out for them, is the Vita version going to come afterward and include all the DLC to justify a stand-alone price?  Or is there going to be some sort of Cross-Buy/Cross-DLC situation so people like myself who are already entrenched in REVENGEANCE financially don't have to shell out an extra $40-60 for that entire experience on the go as well?  Mortal Kombat and Disgaea 3 on the Vita have sort of set a precedent for the former, if nothing else.

Honestly, doing stand-alone would probably be the easier and smarter option for everyone.  Much as I would like to avoid making my entire Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE investment ~$210 by buying the Vita version (provided it bundled the JetStream Sam and BladeWolf DLC at the very least), I would do that in a heartbeat.  REVENGEANCE is just too good and the ability to play it whenever I want is a dangerous one indeed.  Oftentimes, while playing REVENGEANCE, I only stopped playing because I knew I -had- to because of other obligations, or because I beat it.  Again.  It quickly transcended from "Game I need to play because I want to and I just bought it" to "Game I need to play because oh my god" and all the way to "Game I want to play forever because oh my god".  While I was doing practical things like farming the arms that the game wanted me to pick up and S-Ranking whatever I could, I was -also- stuffing about with things like "The Frank Jaeger Experience" in which I just suited up in the Gray Fox suit with the Fox Blade and ran around cutting things with abandon, yelling "HURT ME MORE".  Also giggling.

The game is just fun.  I could be more specific and I will be some night after I have sat down and played it a bit more (since I have played Tomb Raider, Deus Ex:  Human Revolution, Disgaea 3 and Guacamelee! at least in the meantime since I have played it) and can elucidate my points a little easier, but the general gist is that REVENGEANCE is just a fun thing to play.  And I like fun things.  Fun things are, indeed, fun.  So while I am constantly struggling to keep at least two gigs of space on my Vita's paltry 16 Gig memory stick, I would certainly kick out some of the things I have tried to keep in the off-chance that I will want to play them to make space for REVENGEANCE, should it arrive in a form that would require a lot of space.  Like digitally.  Like in a delayed cross-buy scenario.  Which I doubt would happen, but I am open to the possibility.

In practice, it's a hard thing to imagine, though.  The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection also set a precedent for being a stand-alone, full-investment game that only offered Transfarring (also known as Cross-Save), which I would also expect in a case where REVENGEANCE got a Vita version.  It also set a precedent for being roughly the same price for less game than the console counter-parts (completely lacking Peace Walker in -any- capacity, including a download voucher) which is...less than inspiring in that it makes me think of a scenario where I can only play as Sam on Vita if I pay another six dollars.  I also worry on the technical slant of things because, while the PS3 and 360 versions ran quite smoothly (and needed to, being the type of game that REVENGEANCE is), I'm not sure I have faith in anyone's ability to port it faithfully, keep the framerate tight while -also- not muddying up the visuals a lot, as they did in Mortal Kombat.  The Vita is a powerful machine, make no mistake, and I think it definitely could be possible to do it...I just don't have a lot of faith in developers putting in the required effort to make -it- happen.

Of course, this is all basically just posturing here.  If Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE is announced for Vita, you could just find that gif of someone throwing money at a computer monitor over and over again and that would be me.  (that's a thing, right?  Someone make that a thing)  There is no way that I -wouldn't- buy REVENGEANCE on another platform that I could play it on because it is just that good of a game.  So while I hope for a lot of things, that it would be put out at a reasonable cost, that it would run smooth and look great and that it would justify a late port with more base content, I can't honestly say I would take a moral high ground or anything if it didn't.  I would just buy the hell out of it and play the hell out of it.

Forever.

or at least until Terraria comes out....then I will probably play that for a long time

Follow-Up on the Adam Orth Thing

Deal with it, indeed.

Since yesterday, no less than twenty individual gaming news sources took the whole "I don't get the drama over Always-On consoles" story and ran with it in a big way.  Adam's twitter has been completely locked down after brief, lack-luster apologies were handed out by Orth himself and Manveer in what is, at best, the worst attempt at damage control that I've seen in a loooong time.  Because while one could theoretically buy that Orth and Manveer were trolling each other playfully about something silly, that doesn't exactly explain the -other- comments he made to -other- people.  Such as telling one person who lamented that he knew people who lived in areas that have no access to "get with the times and get the internet" because "it's awesome".  And, in response to someone stating that it should be up to the user to determine how they use the product they purchased, he flippantly stated that "Sure, if someone wants to make a smoothie with a chainsaw, that's their right".

However, this was never about Adam Orth, even though he was the one who instigated it and said incredibly dumb things.  The only way that it -was- about him was because he is, presumably in a position to know just what is going on with the NeXtBox that we currently have nothing to go on besides rumors and speculation.  Rumors and speculation that are all pointing at the exact same thing.  Rumors and speculation that are only bolstered when someone who knows what the hell starts saying "Always On" consoles aren't a bad thing.  This seems to be the point where people are losing the plot because their argument is just basically "Some guy said something".  Well yeah, that is kind of the deal, but that is detracting from the context and completely ignoring that what he is saying is lining up perfectly with what internet rumors have been saying.  The internet has a pretty damn good track record with this shit lately, telling us shit we wouldn't know or think about any other way.

Who could have predicted the DualShock 4 would have a friggin' touchpad on it?  Yet we knew because internet rumors and speculation said it and it was proven correct.  Hell, who could have thought that the Vita was going to have a rear touchpad?  People argued up and down, left and right that no, no, no, absolutely not, that wasn't going to happen, right up until it happened.  The Nintendo Network.  The Wii U's Tablet Controller.  The hardware specs of the PS4.  The streaming solution to backwards compatibility for the PS4.  The "Share" button and highly-integrated social features of the PS4.  All of this was just 'rumor and speculation' right up until guess what, shit is confirmed, so why do we have any reason to distrust anything that has as much press as the goddamn "Always-Online Durango" rumors?  Pure and simple - we don't.  The last time the internet was 'wrong' on something big was the whole Final Fantasy Versus XIII thing and to be fair?  Fucking game still isn't out, nor is there any official -anything- out there for it that is in any shape or form 'new'.

Microsoft's official response isn't really helping matters, either:

"We apologize for the inappropriate comments made by an employee on Twitter yesterday. This person is not a spokesperson for Microsoft, and his personal views do not reflect the customer centric approach we take to our products or how we would communicate directly with our loyal consumers.  We are very sorry if this offended anyone, however we have not made any announcements about our product roadmap, and have no further comment on this matter."

We get it.  Microsoft doesn't comment on rumors and speculation.  Does this mean that Adam Orth just let something big slip and whoops, NeXtBox is definitely going to be Always Online?  No.  Is it helping?

Hell no.

Basically, we're not going to 'know' anything until we know 'everything', which will be whenever Microsoft decides to officially unveil the thing.  In the meanwhile, people will go on continuing to believe that the NeXtBox is going to be Always-Online and start planning their PS4 purchases.  In the meanwhile, it's going to completely gnaw away at any platform that Microsoft might actually -have- to unveil the NeXtBox.  By the time it's announced, it's going to be less "Holy shit the NeXtBox" but rather a checklist of what the internet actually got right about it.  I have no doubt in my mind that, at this point in time, the device is going to be Always-Online.  Might that change between now and the unveiling?  Absolutely.  So where we're at is that the thing is going to be announced one way or the other and people will either say "Well, there's that, totally buying a PS4/Wii U now" or "Oh, so I guess they changed it.  Well, I still don't know, I'm pretty hyped on the PS4/Wii U now".  Basically, Microsoft's stubbornness is hobbling them right out of the starting gate which is interesting, since that's usually Nintendo's job.

Yeah.  I went there.

okay I'm mostly joshing about the Nintendo slam at the end there but come on

Welp, NeXtBox Is Gonna Be Dumb

wait, I actually have to type stuff after that?

So, uh, meet Adam Orth, Creative Director of Microsoft Studios.  Some guy who is going to get very, very popular over the next day or so.

In what is either something that is rather telling or the worst timing ever, Orth decided it was a good idea to try to speak out Always On things on the same day that Kotaku ran yet another rumor about the NeXtBox requiring a constant internet connection to function.  Seeing as this is like, the tenth rumor in months from different sources (even if you discount Kotaku at face value which, to be fair, most of us do), it's a bit worrying without Orth's involvement.

When you then have Orth on the same exact day, near the same time, stating things like "I want every device to be Always On", arguing common complaints with terrible analogies and generally being a condescending prick as you see above, it's...well...kind of disconcerting.  To say the least.  Of course, I'm not explicitly saying the NeXtBox is going to have an Always On requirement, it's just that, at this point, it's more believable that the NeXtBox is going to be shaped like a Chibi Girl to attract more Japanese Marketshare than that it won't have an Always On requirement.  Because there is just a mountain of evidence at this point that points to it being a reality and, well....to be fair, when has the internet been -wrong- about something like this lately?  Nailed the PS4 specs before it was announced, nailed when and how it was going to be announced, and has given us the skinny on plenty of other things that seemed less-than-feasible.

Like a lot of people, this is going to be a make-it-or-break-it thing for me.  I don't necessarily worry that my internet -isn't- stable since it's up more than it's not these days (hope I didn't just jinx it), but I -have- had plenty of issues with it in the past.  Some issues that lasted nights in a row with which I took to my PS3 or PSP or Vita to assuage my fury.  To imagine that my gaming could be impeded by an outage that is already taking away a lot of my social ability and other means of entertainment (Youtube, mostly) is pretty much doubly infuriating which is exactly I won't be buying into it.  There's still time before this thing is announced that they can change it up, but at this point, I'm not hopeful.  Hell, even if it -is- announced as something that you can play offline, I'm going to be skeptical, because in my mind, it's something that was built to be played online all the time.  It'll be interesting to see how it plays out either way, I suppose.

Trophies May Be Coming to Older Games

It's been kind of a thing floating around the internet for a few days, but I'm just now getting to it because I completely forgot about it last night.  There's a patent that's been recently filed by Sony that I'm linking to IGN for since Joystiq hasn't made a thing about it from what I can tell, and while it's kind of patent-y in "what is this even", it's a fairly simple process.  Basically, so says the patent, games can be patched in a way that doesn't call for re-certification because the game hasn't actually been altered in any way except that it adds triggers for trophies.  So basically, the process would just require a person or few people to sit down, come up with a list, make the appropriate triggers and submit them to be implemented.  Nice and simple and, most importantly, cheap.

So why should we care?  Well, the vagueness is sort of the key here - it just says 'games', not 'PS3 games', though I suspect this could be utilized in those handfuls of PS3 games that remain trophy-less to this day (Valkyria Chronicles, anyone?).  Which means any game you can play on a system that supports trophies (PS3 and Vita, really.  Until the PS4) would, theoretically, be able to have trophies attached to it.  Which means that copy of Metal Gear Solid you have in your download list might just offer you a shiny silver trophy for unlocking the Tuxedo, or Final Fantasy VII might have a gold up its sleeve for someone who collects every type of materia.  Things of that sort.  For people like myself who use trophies as a sort of benchmark, or an incentive to replay some games and wring some full enjoyment out of them, well, this is quite a boon.

It is, ultimately, hard to tell just how involved these types of deals would be because they are sort of unprecedented in most cases.  While there are -some- PS2 that have trophy lists now (thanks to HD-ification), these might be the exceptions and not the rule.  Who knows if any PS2 Classic that might get support via this method will be 'allowed' the full trophy list, though I don't see why they wouldn't.  It's a fact that makes some people a little annoyed, but Platinums move games.  $10 for a good game that will get you a Platinum trophy?  For most people, it might just be the little extra incentive to tip them over the edge into picking up some older games that they've been meaning to grab.  For others, it might just mean that they're suddenly buying up a bunch of older games for the specific goal of getting trophies in it.  Either way, they games start selling more and that's all that anyone really cares about.

I can't deny that the prospect of  playing the Playstation One version of Chrono Trigger for trophies is almost delicious - a game that I've literally 100%'d multiple times through my lifetime, yet with nothing really to show for it aside from my memories.  Which is, I believe one of the stumbling points that I think I cover every time I talk about trophies, but it's always relevant to the conversation nonetheless.  It's not like achievements/trophies suddenly phased into existence to make people go on fetch quests and this and that in the multi-hour task of 100%'ing a game, or playing it in a way that might not be intuitive at first.  This has existed since the beginning of games - just that before this generation, your only recourse was to inform those who didn't know about these little things, these easter eggs and such, or discuss your 'stories' of getting them with people who had similarly done so.  For all intents and purposes, nothing has changed - you just now get a thing that gives you points or a shiny trophy when you do it on top of the story that comes with it.

There's a completely possible chance, however, that nothing will come of any of this, though.  It is, after all, just a patent, and even if it were something that were made possible, it requires -some- work on the developers and/or IP Holders.  While it's minimal work and I doubt there's a big cost associated with it, it -is- work nonetheless, and on games that have been out for a decade or better in most cases - a lot of devs just won't see a point in doing it.  There's all sorts of wondering to do if they actually -do- this as well, since it's hard to tell just how the actual lists will be added in and handled, as I mentioned, and whether or not there will be 'guidelines' for them as there are for PS3/Vita games.  Still, it is something worth mentioning and could be very interesting to see how it's utilized, if at all.

Jak and Daxter Probably Coming to Vita

Woah woah, don't get all excited now.  It's probably just the HD Collection, which was outed through an ESRB rating, though I shouldn't say 'just' the HD Collection.  By all means, if this is true (which, it probably is, really) then that's pretty impressive and will actually give us a look into the sort of PS2 HD games on Vita thing that we haven't really -seen- despite wanting it pretty hard.  There was Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, yes, but has there been many other examples, really?  The Ico/Shadow of the Colossus remote play kind of counts, but not natively (Which is something that needs to be rectified soon-like) and...well, that's really about it.  Unfortunately.

While it does feed the "Hurr durr ports are dumb" crowd, it -does- mean that there's more things to play on your Vita which, at the end of the day, is pretty much all anyone cares about.  Or should care about, at least.  While it's not a brand new game or even a 'new' game by any means, it's still -something- and could hopefully help usher in a few other things as well.  People clamoring for good portable Sly games might be able to dream a dream for the Sly Collection, we can all hold out a little hope for the Ratchet and Clank one, and so on and so forth.  God help me if Yakuza 1&2 HD Collection becomes a thing that happens in the West on Vita because it could be download-only (and not largehuge on Vita) and save Sega some costs.  Because I wouldn't put my Vita down for months if so.

It's more for those reasons that I brought it up, as I don't have a real personal connection to the Jak and Daxter series of games.  Indeed, I haven't even played them, nor grabbed the HD collection because I...really don't need to add three new games to my backlog that is already overfull and counts at least two JRPGs among them, meaning I won't want for games for the rest of the year, most likely.  I'll -buy- new games, of course, because I am a terrible person with money and such, but I won't -need- them.  Except for Last of Us.  ...and Tearaway.  That's not the point, though.  The point is that it's worth a mention because of what it could signify, as I already stated.

Another thing that could be telling is just how this is priced and handled.  The Collection on PS3 is officially $20 now, (it is, check it out on the online store or the PS3 store) and this seems like a bit of work to just release it for $20 as well, though there doesn't seem to be any 'added value' to bring the price back up to $30 just for the Vita version either.  The up-cost would cover the things needed to be changed about to fit the Vita's control scheme, of course, but that doesn't translate well to consumers.  "Why is this $20 and this $30?"  "Because this one is portable."  "Oh." is not a conversation that will end with said person buying the Vita version, is my point.  Aside from that, will all three games even fit on a Vita cart?  Are we going to see a multi-cart release this early?  Or will this possibly be a digital-only affair to keep the price at $20 for it?

These are all questions to consider with this being a thing that is likely to happen.  Something else to wonder about is whether or not folks who already own the Collection on PS3 will see some sort of benefit in doing so.  Things like whether or not it ends up being Cross-buy (which would be a bit ridiculous, but I wouldn't mind), if it'll support Cross-Saves (which should be expected) and the like.  If it ends up Cross-Buy, do you only get the Vita version if you bought the Collection digitally?  I don't see how it could be done otherwise, to be honest, but that's very likely a -very- small market of people initially.  It might spur some more digital sales, but it'd probably be a grumbling-point for folks.

I might be getting ahead of myself here though.  After all, the only thing we know is that the ESRB Listing specifically states PS Vita as a platform, which leaves little wiggle-room for understanding.  It is likely that the Collection -is- hitting the portable device since it doesn't really lend itself to misinterpretation, being a new listing and all.  The how, the why, the when and other logistics are the only things up in the air and, as I said, they're worth paying attention to, since they could set the flow for other such collections that may or may not come out in the following.  Depending on how it's handled, I might just pick it up despite the inherent lack of need to do so, because I can't say that I'm -not- curious about the games.  And hell, I love playing things on my Vita, so it all works out.

And Now the Wall Street Journal Says PS3 Streaming

One of the more persistent rumors about the PS4 is that, due to the drastically different architecture of the device, it won't be able to do native PS3 Backwards Compatibility due to leaving out 'The Cell" processor that the PS3 wholly relied on.  That is a definite possibility at this point, hell, I might as well say it's a probability, which is a Bad Thing™ since not only does it mean you can't pop in a PS3 game and play it on your shiny new PS4, but it will be difficult, if not impossible to bring over your PSN games as well, what with them being, you know, built on the PS3's architecture and all.  If anything, that latter point will be the one that stings the most since, well, digital games are a whole other beast from physical ones and if anything, -those- are the ones that are supposed to move with you.  Not allowing that library to shift onto newer platforms just seems like a move that will give more ammunition to everybody else.  If it goes down like that, that is, though I don't see how it's anything but an All-or-Nothing deal.

However, plenty of people have been suggesting that Sony's acquisition of the Game Streaming Service Gaikai, done sometime last June, will be implemented as a bandage for that wound.  It's all been speculation at this point, though Joystiq says that the Wall Street Journal is saying it's a definite thing.  Normally, I wouldn't give this any water to hold, and I'm still not saying I do, but the Wall Street Journal -is- the ones who said the PS4 is getting announced the 20th and released sometime this year, with much of the same certainty.  Who's to say that either report is correct, of course, though this streaming rumor has been circulating around long enough that I actually wanted to bring it up (again) in a more directed manner since I've only really touched on it in the past.  This pretty much just gave me the perfect excuse to do just that, so I decided to run with it.

The few times I have spoken about Streaming as a BC solution, I have been wholly negative and against the idea and that has not changed whatsoever.  First off, nobody, least of all me, knows just how in the hell Sony would actually plan to implement such an idea and each method carries caveats, some exclusive to that method, some not.  The general basis theory is that there will be this library of PS3 games, both retail and PSN-only that may or may not be the current digital library that will be available for streaming.  Things like Journey, KOEI games (goddamn you KOEI), and whatnot will all hopefully be present, meaning the libraries will match and you will theoretically have the same access to the same digital pool.  Except, let's face it, the library that you can buy on the PS3 and the Library of PS3 that you can stream will 100% not be a 1:1 match because problems with certain games handle data and loading, problems with licensing and just general problems.  So there's our first fault.

The next question is:  Who gets to access what in this digital pool?  Do you, by virtue of having a Playstation Network account get to stream Warriors Orochi 3 on the PS4 because you bought a PS4?  Probably not.  Do you, by virtue of having a Playstation Network account get to stream Warriors Orochi 3 on the PS4 because you bought it on the PS3?  That....would seem like it's the right idea, but it's hard to say.  It's hard to not picture that the streaming service will not, in some way, be a part of Playstation Plus, which just adds a whole new level of confusion to the mix.  Do you only get to stream if you have PS+, then?  Is that copy of Journey you purchased stuck on your PS3 unless you then also subscribe to PS+?  Do you only get access to games that you 'own' for streaming even with PS+?  (Though, provided the IGC continues, PS+ will gradually expand your library anyway)  It's convoluted, too much so, and though we might understand it, eventually, who else is?  Nobody.  How would you even market it if it was the highest case of the 'If's?  If you have a PS4, If you bought this game on your PS3 and If you have PS+, then you can totally stream it on the PS4, provided it's actually in the library of titles that can be streamed?  Who's buying that?

This is all, of course, ignoring the simple execution of such a thing.  Sony's servers for downloading PS3/PSN/PSP/Vita games have not been hailed as, well, the fastest, or even fast enough and while I'm assuming Gaikai's servers would be the ones being used instead, there's still quite a lot of things there if, in fact, the entire current digital library would be available for streaming.  Which, again, it won't be, and there won't be -more- options than the current library unless there are some massive shenanigans that make it possible.  So from server-side, it's hard to imagine that it's going to be fantastic and that is not even considering user-side whatsoever.  Personally?  My internet is shit, I've told everyone who will listen to this.  I can stream music with Music Unlimited and I can watch SD Netflix without a buffer.  I cannot do -more- than one of these things with the internet at a time.  I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that I cannot stream DmC:  Devil May Cry, Vanquish, Bayonetta, Dead Space of any variety and so on and so forth.  Hell, I probably couldn't stream Final Fantasy VII.  I am nowhere -near- the minority in this.  And even folks that -can- stream these games feasibly have to contend with internet companies far more prone to gnashing their teeth whenever you get close to a certain amount of internet usage per month, which, this sort of thing will eat away at like crazy.

At this point, I have no doubt in my mind that PS3 BC will be done through streaming rather than Hardware.  I can do nothing but sigh and make a little hand gesture at that.  It's a bad idea with bad precedent, bad repercussions and it's going to be the center of more than a few vitriolic rants from people around the internet, some influential, some not.  I'm still holding out hope that at least the smaller games, things like the mentioned Journey, like Retro City Rampage, like the upcoming Urban Trials Freestyle will be able to be downloaded, installed and played on a PS4, but I have no idea how that will be possible without a Cell.  Or how it will be possible to do PSN games, but not PS3 games.  So my hope is obviously waning a bit on that front.  Hopefully the Playstation Meeting will give me something to assuage my fears and doubts, but I really do not see how it could.  Still, the 20th cannot come fast enough so this unpleasantness is out in the light, rather than left in the wondering areas of our brains where things will almost always be -worse- somehow.

People Seem to Think This Might Be the DualShock 4

Or at least something like this.  This is an early prototype of the eventual DualShock 4 (I mean, I assume that's what the name will be) that has been used for dev kits and such, according to some sources after Destructoid posted up the article with said image.  So, being that it's a dev kit version, and an early one at that, the probability of the final controller looking like this (though admittedly shinier) is quite low.  Yet, I'm certainly more willing to put this as the potential next controller for the PS4 over some other rumors that are floating around out there, directly conflicting with this one.  As I've said before, we are into that phase of things wherein people just really want to have those delicious, delicious page-hits, so some folks out there just sort of make things up.  Now I'm not saying anyone made anything up here, but with something as absurd as a controller with no analog sticks, well, I am in fact heavily implying it.

There are a few oddities with this prototype, however, which point to it being an early design even before it was labeled as such.  The first and most egregious, I think, is the complete lack of Start and Select buttons, or at least the lack of them in a sensible place.  It's hard to make out in this shot, but if you -can- make it out, there are two buttons on either side of the big touchpad that closely resemble that of the start and select buttons.  One can only assume these are placeholder positions, so to speak, because that....that would be a bad place for them.  Also suspiciously missing is the "Share" button that so many rumors have agreed upon the device having, being the thing that allows you to take images/video capture of a game and share it with your friends, further integrating the social media aspects of the console.  Of course, it's -probably- missing because, well, they don't want developers sharing things, obviously, but I would assume they would, again, want a placeholder position for that.  Since it's going to be a big deal about the PS4, apparently.

Moving on from what's missing on the controller, it's best that we instead focus on what is present on it.  It has pretty much all the standards:  A D-Pad (said to be similar, if not the same, as the Vita's D-Pad which is quite good), two analog sticks (that have a weird look about them, but are probably comfortable), the traditional face buttons, L1/2, R1/2 and the PS button ala DualShock 3.  The rather obvious new addition to the controller, however, is the comparatively massive touchpad (that is pad, as in a thing that is not a screen) emblazoned across the front of it and, if you'll notice, a little bit around the outer edge.  Why is that, you might ask?  Well, the touchpad is apparently clickable and features two-point touch (meaning it will recognize two different fingers or points of contact) so it's like a brand-new button unto itself beyond the actual touch-sensitive uses it'll have.  I'm not entirely sure what purpose it will serve, being clickable, but hey, more pushing things is always good.  I could surmise that the 'clicking' is only used in place of the mentioned-missing Select and Start buttons (depending on which side of the pad your finger is on) where the touch part will be available for games to make use of.  I sort of hope that isn't the case for the obvious reasons, but also because, well, I just kind of want that to be a new button.  New buttons are fun.

The other blatantly obvious piece on the controller itself is the big old sensor on the top that is lit up with a nice little blue.  Cloudy white plastic with an LED beneath on a Playstation Controller?  Well, it doesn't take a big leap to think of Move in that case, especially with so many reports using Move -in- possible controller designs (to the point where I got really excited for one such idea....like really excited).  However, I have to question just -how- Move will be implemented if this is how it's integrated into the controller proper.  On the Move Wand, the sensor (the ball) is on the end with you holding it and actively controlling where it points and, more importantly, -how- it points.  It is a thing that was designed with depth, is my point, and depth, this controller does not have.  If that little sensor is how the camera will register the move bit, that means you are holding your controller in both hands to point the sensor at the camera.  It is not, in that case, a pointer by any means and in fact becomes quite concerning if you even contemplate trying to -use- it like Move in existing games that support it.  For instance, hold a DualShock 3 and tell me just how in the hell I'm to expect the top half of it to be able to be flicked as a wand in Sorcery or swung as a sword in Sports Champions.

There is also what appears to be a speaker underneath the touchpad.  I'm just throwing that out, as I really have nothing to say about that except "yay, directional sound".

It is comforting to know that this isn't the final design of the controller if it is, in fact, an official design at all, even a prototype one.  Which it's....more or less more of what we've grown to love with the DualShock 3 with some improvements, it has some oddities about it that I would like to see corrected or, at least, explained.  If they are, in fact, moving forward with Move and keeping it integrated into the PS4, I do hope that we'll be able to use existing Move equipment for that, as I doubt there could be -much- changes made on that that would warrant a revision.  Or...again, at least as long as Move is -feasible- next generation, then I would be fine with that as well.  I am just going to need a lot of convincing if the sensor stays where it is, as it is, for basic implementation because that is the default.  And the default looks weird and unwieldy as hell, but of course, maybe it's just a thing you'll grow into.  All I know is that I'm sick of saying "We only have to wait a few more days, possibly" because the 20th is rapidly approaching and cannot, in fact, come soon enough.

Update!:  Or perhaps the new controller is this!

I could dig this one.  Certainly looks a little newer and more refined, and there's apparently a headphone jack in it for...some reason.  Perhaps to divert whatever sounds will be coming out of the speaker to your ears directly.  Still, the same problems I mentioned for the other prototype still exist for this and I'm still not completely happy.  Though it does look much more palatable.

So, There is Probably a PS4 Coming Out This Year

So, last week (the 31st to be specific) over at the Playstation blog, there was a little coy post with the above video that also had a mention of a Playstation Meeting 2013 which will, apparently, be taking place on the 20th of this month of February.  The post, titled "See the Future" with the link to the Playstation Meeting page as "Be the first to know." is about as subtle as a brick to the face.  Or about as subtle as a teenager with a crush.  These are equally not subtle things, is my point.  The very, very, very obvious idea is that the Playstation Meeting this year is all about showing off the PS4 in its early stages, a lot like the Playstation Meeting when Sony showed off the Vita, then the NGP.  Of course, something had to happen and the Wall Street Journal of all places basically acted like that friend that you hate having because they don't respect your wishes and go tell that person you have a crush on them.  Or, in this case, that you're releasing a PS4, but I was continuing the metaphor, you see.

There are a lot of "apparently"s to the situation, so I won't bore you with restating that over and over again, but remember to have a massive load of salt handy for this because there's one part that I can assure you is bullshit.  The Wall Street Journal states that the February 20th event will be for unveiling the device, possibly naming it and the like.  Conjecture states that it will just be a tech show, no price, no release dates beyond "This year", none of that.  Conjecture also states that that information will be discussed at E3 because, let's face it, that makes sense.  The WSJ has said that the PS4 will be out before 2013 closes out, which is not completely out of the question, since, well, that is definitely something to shoot for.  Obvious thoughts are the Holdiay season, but we'll just have to see.

Of course, they apparently also claim (I say apparently because I'm basing this on the Joystiq article and things quoted from elsewhere.  I don't have a WSJ account and I'll be damned if I'll buy one to read.) that Sony designed the console around social aspects rather than hardware improvements which, if the specs we've seen floating around on the internet are true, is kind of -not- true since there is a pretty good hardware bump.  They also said that Sony toyed around with the idea of making the thing not have an optical disk drive which is, let's face it bullshit of the highest order.  "But they've done digital only devices before!"  Yeah, when those devices were previously using a failed physical format (the PSP Go, as the UMD was dead in the water before it even started basically) they surely did cut that option as a way to try and cut costs.  Blu-Ray, however, is thriving, coming into its own as -the- medium for folks who want their stuff tangibly so there's absolutely no reason not to have a Blu-Ray drive.

The PS4 rumor mill isn't just concentrated to this singular WSJ post, of course, and has been in swing for a while now.  The "Future of Playstation" teasing that Sony did only really stoked the fires up, which is, of course, the entire point.  We've heard things from the new controller will have a touchpad on it not unlike the Vita's Rear Touch pad (on the front, though) to the thing using Gakai to stream games from previous Playstation cycles, using that as Backwards Compatibility rather than having anything built in to really facilitate that.  We've heard that every single one of Sony's main First/Second parties have had dev kits in their hands for a long time now and will be ready to wow everyone when the curtains drop.  We've heard that it's going to push and support 4K resolution.

Ultimately for me, what I haven't heard is why, exactly, I should care.  That is very surprising to me and likely you as well, because I mean, I am kind of a Sony guy.  I get excited about Sony things.  But I dunno, I just don't have a good feeling about this, especially if some of the rumors -are- true, like the streaming BC thing.  I mean, let's look at the facts here.  Streaming a game just means that a digital version of it is going from A to B.  Look at the library of digital PS3 titles we have versus the -actual- library of PS3 titles and realize that it's, what, like 15%?  20%?  It's ridiculously small as a number, and that number gets slashed if there's even a remote possibility of PS2 being streamed and handled as such as well.  I don't see how -that- is anything to get excited for in the best of circumstances and for me personally, it's basically like saying "Well, it has -no- BC".  Which, I mean, is -fine-.  I play PS3 games on my PS3.  That is its purpose.  That I have a dozen PS3 games that I own and haven't played will keep me playing PS3 when the PS4 comes out no matter what.

Really, I'm just not looking forward to the announcement.  I'm sure it will show off things that look awesome and will be amazing and all that, and it will be the reason why I eventually get a PS4.  I mean, I'm -going- to get a PS4 unless there is something stupid with it like it's Digital-only or something that directly inhabits my ability to buy it and enjoy it without a strong need for fast internet.  Because I simply don't have that, nor will I have that this time next year.  And I won't be in the minority of this, not even in the slightest.  It's all just one of those situations where the devil is in the details, really.  Until the 20th, when possibly some of this is elaborated on, we just won't know exactly -what- the future of Playstation will be, but it damn well better include some sort of functionality with the Vita.

Kotaku Says FF Versus XIII Is Dead, Internet Rages

First thing's first, I would like to make a note of the fact that I am doing what most are -not- doing, which is keeping cool on this matter.  I'm not doing some knee-jerk "Final Fantasy Versus XIII is DEAD" titled post, nor even alluding to the fact that there is a real possibility that the game has been cancelled.  I'm not saying "Report: Final Fantasy Versus XIII Cancelled" like it's gospel truth.  I am merely taking something that is not only of personal interest to me, as well as a fairly big, recent story, and putting down what's been said of it, not only just so it gets out there, but also so that it hopefully does so in the correct manner.  Since I see so many people are doing it wrong.  (At least, wrong in the sense of just trying to post up stuff versus trying to ensure something is read by a bunch of people who will completely misinterpret what's there.)  Considering the, er, 'origin' of this story, I think it's a particularly egregious misstep for many folks out there, but not a surprising one, I guess.

So let's not dawdle and just lay things out on the table so that we may explain them, yes?  Kotaku (yes, they're still around, yes, the site is still miserable) has said that 'various sources' have confirmed to them that Final Fantasy Versus XIII is no longer a thing in development.  They are claiming that the game itself has been quietly cancelled, where the lengthy development time and results are merely being folded into another project which may or may not be a numbered Final Fantasy title.  This is all, both the quiet nixing and the folding, are apparently on the hush-hush because Squeenix fears that the mere notion that they are dumb enough to put six years worth of costs into an entirely new game without releasing the game they were attached to will scare away investors and affect the overall stock price.  Which is pretty much the only bit of any of this that does, in fact, make a little sense.

So yes, that means that the entirety of the story is that Kotaku has made a post about something that very well could be true without providing anything to back it up beyond what 'sources' have claimed.  Just let that sink in for a moment while I repost IGN's post on it titled "Report: Final Fantasy Versus XIII Cancelled" which is in no way a thinly veiled criticism or anything of the sort, let me assure you.  And when I point out that the actual Kotaku post itself which started all of this ends on this note: "So, is Final Fantasy Versus XIII finally and officially dead? Without confirmation from Square Enix, we can't say for sure. [...] But if the game fails to make an appearance at either the upcoming Final Fantasy celebrations or the 2012 Tokyo Game Show? Then yeah, given what we've heard (particularly of Square's reported desire to kill the game quietly), you'd be a lot safer assuming Versus XIII is kaput and start looking forward to the next big FF game." which is about as non-committal as can be, it's certainly not me indirectly stating my disappointment and dissatisfaction with the various news sources who have not only gone full-bore on something with a shaky leg to stand on, but have done so on something Kotaku themselves isn't even fully behind.

Is it easy to believe?  Absolutely.  Versus XIII is quickly on its way to becoming another Duke Nukem Forever considering that in the six years since it was shown off first and announced, we have received maybe half a dozen trailers, some screenshots early on, and some sketchy information that you generally...you know, back up with it being in motion which obviously Squeenix has lacked in doing.  If any other site had broken the 'story' first with something at least a tiny bit more concrete than 'inside sources', it would definitely be at least a little more believable since who honestly know just how much of Versus is done?  It only officially entered 'full production' last September, which I'm assuming means that they at least had an Alpha build of the game built at that point.  Which suggests, you know, kind of more of a game than one that you'd want to cancel, barring if you're Activision and have gone somewhat crazy.  But I don't think we're beyond thinking Squeenix is capable of doing something on that level of dumb.

I'm clearly a little unconvinced, of course.  I whole-heartedly believe that this is a thing that is possible, in spite of the fact that GAF (who is a surprisingly valid source) has people who has said Versus will be shown off at TGS and the fact that Theathrythm has recently received DLC (in Japan) featuring songs (a song?) from Versus XIII.  Strictly because Squeenix has done nothing to earn my, nor anybody else's, good will with something like this.  The actual fate of Versus, specifically just how the final product will turn out, has been nebulous since day one beyond "Action/RPG in a modern setting" which, in all fairness is more than enough to begin to generate the hype.  But you've got to follow up and follow-through, which Squeenix has simply failed to do.  So, much like Kotaku (ugh), I have to say that we'll just have to see how things go at TGS.  Perhaps it's just my own hope, but I think it'll be there.  Unfortunately, I'm not willing to back that up with 'inside sources' which may or may not exist.

Santa Seaman Signifies Sega Secret?

So, fairly recently, there was a tweet from the creator of Seaman, Yoot Saito, which contained one strange thing.  The tweet, as reported by Joystiq, contained an image of a Santa-themed Seaman, as well as a statement that basically says "Time to start thinking of the end of the year".  For as subtle as it is, it is -not-, but that's kind of the point and for that alone, well the fact that there was a Santa Seaman alone, is pretty amazing, I should say.  I mean, as you know, I am kind of a Christmas fiend, as well as a Sega fiend, so seeing the both of them together like that.....yeah, that'll get the ol' mind going into overdrive at the possibilities.  Of course, in this scenario, as it's been presented, there's really only three real possibilities that could come from this.  Okay, maybe four.

The first possibility is, of course, the one I prefer the most.  As Sega is wont to do, they seem to release a group of four of their classics through the digital services with remastering work done and updates where appropriate.  With Sonic Adventure, Space Channel, Crazy Taxi and Sega Bass Fishing being last year's offerings (Which was then bundled together in a collection for PC and 360 users only; damnit Sega), this year's group seems to have already been started with the upcoming Jet Set Radio HD for....well, everything but the 3DS it seems.  With reports that state Shenmue 1 & 2 are up next in the remaster list, as well as rumors associated with those saying Skies of Arcadia is a possibility too, we might just have our full Dreamcast volume for this year, if we figure that Seaman HD would be the last one, as it would come out during the holidays.  Assuming they either do five games this year or only do the first Shenmue, leaving Sonic Adventure 2 and Shenmue 2 both for next year, which is precisely the kind of dickery Sega would pull.

Obviously, this is tantalizing to me because not only would I love to just throw money at Sega through remasters for PS3/PSN (as well as collection disks if you would let me, Sega!), but with Jet Set Radio's position on the Vita, it would suggest that the rest of this year's catalog might make it to it as well.  As in, portable Jet Set Radio, Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia and Seaman (which would totally work, what with the built-in microphone).  Are you drooling yet at the very thought of this?  I AM.  I'm sure you know this already, but I did really want to lay it out like that.  Because it is very delicious looking laid out like that, and if I could dedicate an entire Vita page to a straight-up Sega page.....man.  Now I want this very badly.  Like....-so very badly- you don't even know.  I didn't even play Seaman on the Dreamcast (mostly because I didn't even know what the hell), but I would throw down $10 for the ability to do so nowadays, especially if I could take the experience anywhere.

The second option, which may or may not be more likely all things considered, is that this is merely a teaser for a possible 3DS release of the game that has apparently been rumored of for two years.  As in a release around the holidays, or an announcement that will come around the holidays to say that Seaman will come out....sometime after the holidays.  I'm sure you can figure out where I was going with that.  You're smart people.  While still delicious as a prospect, since it is still portable Seaman which has been updated (and will be able to use a mic, ala 3DS mic) I'm sure you all know that I more prefer the Vita, despite my acquiescence to the fact that I will have to get a 3DS at some point to get my Harvest Moon fix.  (I may go with the XL if they release a Circle Pad Pro for it.  By my estimations, if they do that, the thing will be the same width as a Wii U pad.  Wonder if that will be a coincidence?)  So regardless of what portable the theoretical Seaman HD comes out on, I'll be able to buy it, and you can bet that I will.

The third and fourth options are, then, fairly simple.  Being that Nintendo is in the midst of a bigger digital push, a combination of these two previous options could be possible.  As in, Seaman HD swims to the 3DS....as well as everything else.  Kinect (and headsets), Playstation Eye (and headsets), Built-in Mics, PC Headsets, every platform has an option, granted not a 'guaranteed' one but a likely one, that the game will be playable, so Sega could simply decide, as they need to do, that the most money possible is the best option.  Let everyone buy it and, guess what?  Some people totally will!  Amazing!  Conversely, on the flip side for the fourth option, this could all just be an elaborate ruse and the end-result will be something Japan specific involving Seaman that nobody cares about.  Like.....a urinal game featuring Seama-oh god nevermind.

...Anyways.  With Sega, all things are possible, I suppose.  How many of them are positive is always up in the air and questionable, but any of the above are viable options for this bit of news.  Of course, we just won't be able to know what will come of it for a long while and by then, who knows if we'll remember this.  I...probably will.  Since I'll be able to link this post and say "Hey, this happened" when I talk about just what was announced.  Everyone else?  Might not score too high on the old "things I need to remember" scale.  Still, it will probably be neat, whatever happens!  Because Dreamcast revivals are what we need to thrive - for we lost it too soon.  Too soon.  Sadface.

Final Fantasy VII Getting a Re-Release Kind Of

So, hey remember when Final Fantasy VII was released for PC?  N....no?  You don't?  Well.....uh....it happened.  It was a thing that existed.  I should know, because I own it....somewhere.  And never got it to work past a certain boss or random encounter that I don't remember because, as we all know, Final Fantasy VII wasn't really, uh, good on PC.  It's a common complaint from that era and continues even now because nobody has realized that you actually have to work on a port to make sure it works on the systems that you obviously didn't really want it to be on, but yet still wanted the money from it.  I'm not grouchy or bitter at all at that whole thing, what are you talking about?  Regardless, Final Fantasy VII, by all accounts (that I've heard of, as well as experienced) was a pretty egregious case on the PC even for the time and the standard.

Obviously, the best idea is to re-release that version with a few tweaks on PC.  Wait, what?  When I say tweaks, I mean added Cloud Saving functionality (hurr hurr), Achievements (Nobody cares about them on PC games!) and a Thing where you can just kind of click to get free HP, MP and money called the "Character Booster".  No, I am not exaggerating.  Yes, it is kind of defeating the purpose of an RPG.  No, I don't expect it to be criticized.  No, it doesn't make any goddamn sense.  Considering all we have to go on is a cached webpage, I'm not saying that's -all- the information we have about it in regards to the tweaks, nor do I expect "Hey, we made it so you can actually play the game now" would be a bullet point, but I -am- saying that I expect it as much as I don't expect it.  Because I anticipate Squeenix doing dumb things, you realize, because they do that a lot.  I mean, I think re-releasing Final Fantasy VII on PC for '£7.99 / €9.99' (no $ listed, but it translates to about $12.50, so expect $9.99-14.99) with -even less work necessary- than most re-releases nowadays is as brilliant as it is terrible, so you kind of see where I'm coming from.

Well, one thing that the site doesn't clear up is just how they plan on distributing the game, which I imagine is likely because it's not really fully in the works yet, what with the no $ thing.  Regardless, if this is even real (which, let's face it, it's like 98% possible) the likely thing would be to suggest integrating the game into Steam for the copy-protection, actually using the Achievements, and having a realistic expectation of the game to actually sell to people who play PC games.  There are other avenues, of course, but considering Squeenix's PC ventures are already on Steam (At least FFXI and XIV which, despite whatever flak you might give them, are legitimate installments for Squeenix and Steam's partnership), I'm not going to suggest them, nor am I going to suggest that Squeenix is dumb enough to attempt their own service, ala Origin.  I mean, they are, but it's not going to happen, thankfully, because I think they're starting to realize that they kind of need to start -making- money soon.  (Which would be a lot easier if you would localize fucking games like Final Fantasy Type-0 you fucks.  I don't even care on what, re-format it for the Vita and localize it for $40, I'll fucking buy it.)

As an idea, this is all pretty inoffensive aside from the Character Booster which I will have to see in action before I acknowledge it as anything but dumb and I would probably buy it if I was into PC gaming and such.  Since Steam Money cards are officially a thing, I could even buy it as more than a theoretical.  It's totally possible now.  But I already have a digital PSOne version of the game bought, and I'm just waiting for the day that it's playable on the Vita (Or I happen across a really cheap PSPGo) to give it another good once through.  It won't have trophies because why would this quick cash-grab extend to anywhere but PC, but it'll be fine enough.  Really, I think this all just came around because, during a meeting, some higher-ups were talking about some quick cash ideas.  Since the next port up is Final Fantasy VI, they were talking about that and the different versions of it out there to see if there was anything else.  And then someone says "Hey, did you guys know we released FFVII on PC?" and everyone looks at each other in wonderment as he says "It was 1998, though.  Also barely playable.  I guess we should just ign-" and then he was promptly assaulted by someone else who said "GET SOME PEOPLE ON IT RIGHT NOW.  FIX IT, ADD A COUPLE THINGS AND CHARGE CHARGE CHARGE!".  It was likely very entertaining and oh god, I really shouldn't be doing things when I'm sick like this.

Still, it's pretty neat that other people will be able to play the game in a way that they likely have not done so before.  At least not legally.  And likely not the PC version because seriously, who else knew it existed?  If you're holding your hand up, first off, stop that because I can't see you and second off, you're lying.  Who knows, if it goes well, maybe we'll see something similar with Final Fantasy VIII because it -also- had a PC release that you didn't know about either.  And it is likely just as ripe for re-jiggering with achievements and other silly things as VII was which was, uh, not all that ripe at all.  I mean, come on, VIII was released on PC 12 years ago likely as an after-thought of gigantic proportions.  At least VIII has Triple Triad, though.  Mmm....maybe they'll add online multi-player with Triple Triad.  They won't, but it's fun to dream.

E3 Rumor: Playstation Plus Vita Support Inbound

A fairly typical Plus month.

It's that magical time of the year just before the other magical time of the year - The E3 leaks.  (Of course, the other magical time being E3, I figured you all knew that and okay, shut up Mogs)  However, thus far, there hasn't been an actual whole lot that's rumored to appear or anything that's...er, super big.  Even what I'm going to talk about tonight is less "big awesome surprising news" and more "Hey, -just- this side of being late-to-the-party", but it's welcomed and appreciated nonetheless.  And while a lot of us preface rumors with a whole lot of "Now, it's a rumor, so don't look into it too much", but just think about it like this:  When was the last time there was a reported rumor that didn't come true?  Even silly things like MercurySteam making a 2(.5)D Castlevania end up being true, so it's hard to -not- believe these things when you hear about them at face value.

Regardless, today's 'rumor' states that Playstation Plus is coming to Vita alongside a sort of revision of the service; an upgrade, really.  The upgrade is set to have 'top-tier titles' for subscribers (I...don't know what this means) as well as, obviously, exclusive updates for people who might just happen to be Vita-only subscribers.  This will likely mean one PS3 and one Vita game free per month, as well as some meted out discounted/free DLC among the two systems, ensuring each individual store gets roughly the same amount of content, so as to not show 'favoritism', considering Plus subscriber will mean just that, regardless of whether you're PS3-only, Vita-only or both.  I'm not too sure if they'll be able to integrate the Auto-Update thing into the Vita proper, but I imagine it'll get access to the Cloud Saves (which would be extra handy for it, considering some data is stored with the actual game data itself and is a hassle to back up by other means) on top of everything else.

Of course, I imagine this functionality will need a firmware update and this is just me speculating and is no way included in the rumor itself, but while they're updating the firmware.....I'm still hoping that PSOne functionality for the Vita is included.  Not even because I'm planning on using it, not even because I'm miffed that it's not in already (I'm not so much, though), and not even because I'm getting tired of seeing it whined about everywhere, but just because that would be a great fuckin' move.  There was a lot of shit-flipping when Nintendo announced that not only was the Wii going to support SD saves or whatever a few years back, but that it was going to support it right now because 'hey we just pushed out the firmware for it while I was speaking about it'.  People really like that sort of "I'm waving my hands and MAGIC happened!" effect, so long as it's not announcing a brand new console that is in stores this very moment, and for something big like that, it would be a big boon.

I've said it a few times, but it would make a lot of sense for their presser, especially with Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale being showed off since I imagine a lot of classic characters will be in the game.  Well, -games- because it's quite obvious that the game will see a Vita version, but that's neither here nor there.  Something like "since we're honoring characters that really built the Playstation brand, it's only fair that we allow everyone to see these Playstation Classics for themselves.  To that end, PSOne games are now available to be played on your Playstation Vita" or something like that.  A little more flowery or whatever, but I'm sure you get the angle that I'm suggesting the take on it.  It's a pretty standard one, really, but always a crowd-pleaser, especially if it would mean that people get to play their Final Fantasies and other RPGs and Tomba! games and whatnot on the go.  I admit, it's technically a little far-fetched to expect, so I'm not exactly expecting it, but if it happens, oh man, will I be bragging about it.  After all, I'm really just suggesting timing since PSOne Support is an inevitability, clearly being worked on in the months since the Vita saw release.

Still, no matter what does or doesn't get added to the Vita at E3, it -is- heavily suggested that you go ahead and dip into Playstation Plus, at least for E3 (which means grabbing a 3-month voucher as I plan to do) since there are some 'surprises' lined up for Plus members apparently.  From the head content manager for SCEE's PS Plus means that it will likely be a -thing-, and hopefully not exclusive to PAL.  (I really doubt it will be, of course)  Granted, they're supposed to hype this stuff up, but I imagine this is genuinely something pretty 'cool', so I'm going to go with it.  At the worst, I'll just open myself up to a few time-sensitive free games and discounts that might push me into grabbing some Playstation cash despite being low on the real thing.  At the best....well, who knows?  And that's part of the fun.  Only a few more days until we find out!