Today was the release date for Blue Dragon, yet the store I had preordered it from didn't get their shipment today. That's fine, from what I've seen from other stores, nobody else local got it either. That's even better, if I'm not happy then nobody can be happy. Haha, I kid, we all suffer when we think that a game is supposed to be out and its not.

It wouldn't be much of an issue, but the store that I preordered it from was that totally awesome game retailer that we all love and hate...Gamestop. Admittedly, if you want a game thats going to be pretty hot on the first week it comes out you really don't have much choice than preordering it. OR you can do what I'm sure alot of you have had to do as well...go to Kmart, Wal-Mart, Shop-Ko, Fred Meyer, or any other store like Sears.

Say what you will about any of those stores, at least they're not in the business of used games. Look at the amount of profit that Gamestop makes off of buying used and re-selling them. A game that you trade in for 15 bucks (if you're lucky) goes back on the shelves for probably about 30, thats 100% profit people. When they sell new games, the profit margin is in the range of $10 for a game that costs $40-60. That's only a 17% to a 25% profit. It makes sense complete sense why they're so profitable. I understand because who wants to pay full price for a game that they are iffy on? I'm guilty of it, most of us are.

Truth is, yes it gets the message in the form of a game to more people, but at the same time, game companies are making less of the money back that they invested in said game. Yes some of the games that we play (usually the blockbuster hits) don't have to worry about recovering that seed money, but some of the true gems that we enjoy, ya know the sleeper hits, do have to worry.

If a studio that produces a game that is licensed to a major platform falls flat on its ass in sales, chances are the licensee won't pick up a game from them again. This is partially why we see so much recidivism with game companies, thats why there's a new Madden every year, they know that they'll make money on it.

Anyways, I'm off topic...Used games aren't to blame for the 'state of the game' we see in 2007, but if the game you want only cost 5 bucks more on a new version, get the new version and keep the money out of Gamestop's pocket. So, used games = good, new games = very good. On to the next topic.

Push selling: I really fucking hate being asked if I want something besides what I came in for...I'm sure most of you are the same exact way. No, I don't want a disc protection plan. No, I don't want a year of Game Informer. No, I don't have anything else I want to preorder. No, I don't need/want the strategy guide for my game. No, I don't need anything except for what I came in here to buy. Period.

Disc Protection Plan: another one of these game industry rackets. The 10% you pay to protect your disc (at least I think thats how much it is) doesn't actually protect dick. Most of us people here on D-Toid are way too cool to scratch up our game discs. Though I'm sure G$ was cursing their plans when the early adopters of the 360 kept coming in with discs that had curious grooves carved into them.

I don't wish bad things on Gamestop, I enjoy going to a store that caters to me. But there are a few things that I wish would change about the one I go to. First, get some Febreeze or something, the geek funk clamoring up my local store is gagging strong. Second, don't go batshit crazy over a girl gamer that is somewhat decent looking, she's not interested. Third, hurry the fuck up at the register, having to wait in a queue of 5 people when its 10:30 in the morning and all we're doing it picking up our preorders is recockulous. And finally, please for the love of god, stop push selling at the register...I don't want it!

Decisions Decisions Decisions...

I don't know about many of you here, but I can speak for myself when I say that I am an avid fan of JRPGs. There was a time when I HAD to have every single Square Soft game there was. It used to be that there was not a single game that Square made that I wouldn't be foaming at the mouth to buy and vehemently defend to my very end. Remember SaGa Frontier? Yup, had it, and defended it. How about Vagrant Story? Still haven't beat it, but gawd did that game have amazing depth and character.

Which brings me to my main topic of discussion, prescripted decisions within gaming environments and the dread that I have of them. I remember fondly playing Chrono Cross many years ago on the PS Single and the decision that you make at the very beginning of the game about which direction you should take...I though long and hard before making my choice, absolutely sure that there would be some horrific event that could possibly have been avoided dependent on that decision...

I hate to say, it's gotten much worse. Take the most current example of Bioshock; harvest the little sister and make your passage through Rapture much easier, or do the morally right option of saving them, making your travel a bit more difficult. I had an attack of conscience when I met up with the first little sister in the Medical Pavilion. Instead of harvesting her (which I had already decided was just and right because of the evil they were doing), I instead felt sorry for the pathetic being cowering in the corner of the room and decided to save her instead. Immediately I was overcome with emotion that I felt like I had done a good thing.

Keep in mind, boys and girls, that this was a VIDEO GAME that made me feel this way. The last time I can remember right now of feeling such emotion in a video game was when I saved "Grandpa" on Ruin Island halfway through Final Fantasy VI...I had no idea he would die if I didn't feed him the big fish that swam around...and honestly I don't think my feeble teenaged mind would have been able to take it if he did.

Ok...decisions. I'm sure we all have and make more decisions everyday of our life than we do in the games that we play. We all have regret that follows us and hollows us out everyday from events that happened in days, months, years past that we still have yet to get over. I just wonder why it's so much more heavily weighted when its a virtual experience. How many of you out there thought that it was somehow YOUR fault that Aeris died in FFVII? How many of you wished that there was something that YOU could have done more to prevent it from happening?

Turns out, she was meant to die. That crushed me as a teenager...that nothing I could do would ever allow her to stay in my party 'til the end of the game. Sure she was a pretty mediocre character, but it somehow made me sad that it was out of my hands.

Back to Bioshock, cause its current in my mind, I'm currently on my second playthrough and am harvesting each little sister I come across (which makes me feel bad). On the 3rd time through I hope to avoid any and all contact with them altogether. When was the last time that a game, much less a FPS make you feel sorrow for your actions?

There are many, many examples of tough decisions you can make in our experiences as gamers...How many of you out there cringed when Revolver Ocelot made you decide which hand to pick at the end of Snake Eater? Or even submitting to Ocelot's torture in MGS, either saving Meryl or condemning her to death?

I guess you can say that indecision like this is why there are so many sites devoted to walkthroughs and the main reason Game Strategy Guides are pushed so heavily at your local Game$top. Though my hatred for G$ and the fact that I need them will have to be discussed at a much later time.

I've only listed a few of the most stand-out-ish memories I have of decisions in video games. If you guys have any you fondly remember I'd love to hear them. And thanks again for reading my ramblings.

Don't Believe The Hype

This is a really troubling time for me as a gamer.

Truly spectacular games are being ignored for ones that have the bigger PR firm.

Mediocrity is being rewarded with dollar signs.

A system that was at the top of the market in the last generation is finding it hard to catch a break. And the company who nobody thought would hit the grand slam at the bottom of the 9th has busted the stitching on the ball and has caused the whole damn thing to unravel.

What the hell is going on people?

Today our enemy is that thing that we all love to hate and hate to love; I’m talking about hype.

Checking out Wikipedia, it says that “Hype” is and I quote “the practice of spending money on public relations in an attempt to bolster public interest in a movie, television show, or performing artist." I think we all knew that definition. It continues…”Often the entertainment value of the thing being hyped is exaggerated. Consequently, hype has a bad connotation.” No shit…hype is a bad thing?

So then, we all know that the games that we geek for rarely live up to the hype, then why do so many of us allow ourselves to get “hyped-up”?

As I see it, this utterly pointless activity can do one of two things:

Prepare us for imminent failure. i.e. “There’s so much hype for this game that there is no way in hell that it can live up to it, but look he now has a bubble-shield!!!”

Or

2. Make us feel like smarmy assholes for blindly believing the game is going to be a hit. i.e. “HOLY SHIT MASTER CHIEF IS SO FXCKING RAD, NOTHING BEATS TEH HALOZ!!!1!”

I kid Halo; I’m getting a Legendary Edition of the 3rd installment myself. I was just using this as an example. So please no hate mail…moving on.

Why in fact do we get so damn invested in these games? Why is it so important that the game you are anticipating coming out be the “best”? Does a bad review mean that the game and by extension your opinion and feelings moot?

I’m a big fan of looking at reviews with a bit of hesitation, you have to remember that the person doing the review is just that…a person. He/She is NOT you; do not let strangers form your opinions for you! If a game that you’ve been jones-ing for has a review that seems a less than palatable fuck what they say, try it yourself, there’s a reason Blockbuster and Hollywood Video are still open…because they let you try things before buying them!

Some applause has to be sent Microsoft’s way for the 360, there hasn’t been a game that I own that I haven’t been able to demo before going out to buy it. I don’t know how that works on the PSN but I know that there is SOME support, so some thanks have to go to Sony as well. As for Nintendo, well, I don’t know of any downloadable demos, but I could be wrong.

Take for example Bioshock. Yes we all know that this game has in fact lived up to the hype, but for a good part of this year, I had NO intention of picking this game up. I was thinking to myself (as so many of us are guilty of doing) Meh, I can wait for that to hit the bargain bin.

Little did I know that the demo I downloaded the week before its release would rattle me so much. I was hooked, not from word of mouth, not from advertising, but because I tried it and I liked it…Liked it so much, that I’m on my second trip through rapture.

Let us get back to my main questions. First why do we get so damn invested in these games? I know many a person who are Gran Turismo fans only, not car-racing game fans. They can’t even fathom playing games that aren’t the latest iteration of GT. The same goes for fighting game fans. I’m even guilty of this one, I really only enjoy playing Capcom, SNK, and Tecmo fighting games. I know in my mind that there’s nothing wrong with Tekken or with the Virtua Fighter series, but it’s just my preference…wait is that it? Is it all about preference? You mean to tell me this whole posting was about playing the game that is right for you?

In a nutshell…yes, it’s that simple. Play the game that is right for you.

We all want every game that we buy to be a gem, but we have to face it, not every game is meant for the whole audience. Much like everything else in the world of art (regardless of what Mr. Ebert says), some games people can not stand while others revel in its majesty.

So WHY do we care so much? Well that’s simply answered…because it costs us time and money. If you had a chance to have any iteration of any game immediately and without any cost to us as a consumer, would you care as much? I don’t think so. So to wrap this all up, before it becomes a manifesto…it can be best summed up by Flavor Flav: “Don’t believe the hype!”