Gamer Chat: Passing the torch
Posted by Ben Bateman on 30/01/2013
HeavyMetalHanzo
I think it’s safe to say that for the most part I’m among fellow geeks here. There was a time when the world saw the word “geek” as a simple one-size-fits-all label to describe weird introverted people with any interest in video games, technology, and fantasy, but today it can mean many things. Much like the Japanese term "Otaku" it can be applied to different facets of passion. You can be a book geek, a game geek, even a knitting geek!
Having said all that, I'm unashamedly your stereotypical geek and like many old-school geeks I love me some sci-fi! As a kid I watched an unhealthy amount of Star Trek growing up which is why I was excited to hear that JJ Abrams (the director behind the incredible 2009 Star Trek reboot) has been signed-on to direct the now Disney-owned Star Wars VII. Personally, I loved what he did for the Star Trek universe and as a Star Wars fan I'm excited to see what he can for that franchise too - but don’t try to draw me into one of those Trek vs Wars arguments, it won't work!
It's obviously not uncommon to see properties have the torch handed over to a new person, but rarely do you see something as big as Star Wars change companies all together, so this got me thinking:
- What do you think your favourite Square Enix director or designer could bring to your favourite non-Square Enix game?
- Is there a game series out there you wished was part of the Square Enix group?
Your imagination can roam free with this crazy-fun hypothetical scenario. For example what would Mass Effect look like in the hands of Yoshinori Kitase? Or perhaps Saints Row in the capable hands of Sleeping Dogs developer United Front Games. But, of course, keep it nice
As always, share your opinions with us in the comments. Feel free to discuss the topic and engage with each other’s ideas - but please be nice; there are no wrong answers.
Image credits: themadbutcher
Latest Comments
Like this message to send it to the top!. A message from a long-time fan of the series and business student. I’ve enjoyed playing many Final Fantasy and Square Enix Games over the years. Chrono Trigger/Cross, FF9,X, 8 (except for disc 4), the list is longer but; the one I enjoyed most notably was Final Fantasy 7. If there were any game worth remaking, other than FF Tactics (maybe Chrono series), it is Final Fantasy 7. One high ranking member of your organization mentioned that remaking FF7 would ruin the company or something like that, and it should not be done until the original was surpassed. If that logic were to be applied logically, no remake of any other game should have been made until a game that surpassed FF7’s quality of experience had been made. With the exception of the PS one remakes of the earlier FF titles, naturally. To look at it from a business standpoint, you have known for a long time that great demand for one specific product exists, a FF7 remake. With PS4 coming out soon and lackluster sales of these following games: Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (just guessing). A business consulting firm might advise that particular company to capitalize on its greatest asset to recoup some losses. To address the issue of needing to create a title that surpasses Final Fantasy 7 in quality of experience and craft; perhaps through giving FF7 the remake that lives up to expectations, the company will grow its ability to create a game that surpasses it on a modern console. Plus it’s a guaranteed success, millions would be pre-ordered. People who haven’t played video games since FF7 would buy it. Consider the following to explain how this remake would help create the game that would surpass FF7. By analyzing the underlying principles that made FF7 stand out against other FF’s, the company can make a game that isn’t a clone of FF7 nor follows it in a formulaic manner. In a way, it would bring the company back closer to the fundamentals of making a truly great gaming experience, epic in scale and story. A group of strong willed characters, not all existentially whiny ones. Epic missions, games such as motorcycle mini game/ snowboard to break up the pace a bit. Gold saucer, a place to chill exploitable chocobo races for rare loot. ******* villain you want to crush, more reasons to crush him. Backstory for the characters, plot twists that add to the drama and saving the world from destruction. The rest I’m sure you should be able to figure out. I’ll be posting this pretty much everywhere, I want the message to spread.Posted by jondoekno on 19/05/2013 16:29- Like this message to send it to the top!. A message from a long-time fan of the series and business student. I’ve enjoyed playing many Final Fantasy and Square Enix Games over the years. Chrono Trigger/Cross, FF9,X, 8 (except for disc 4), the list is longer but; the one I enjoyed most notably was Final Fantasy 7. If there were any game worth remaking, other than FF Tactics (maybe Chrono series), it is Final Fantasy 7. One high ranking member of your organization mentioned that remaking FF7 would ruin the company or something like that, and it should not be done until the original was surpassed. If that logic were to be applied logically, no remake of any other game should have been made until a game that surpassed FF7’s quality of experience had been made. With the exception of the PS one remakes of the earlier FF titles, naturally. To look at it from a business standpoint, you have known for a long time that great demand for one specific product exists, a FF7 remake. With PS4 coming out soon and lackluster sales of these following games: Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (just guessing). A business consulting firm might advise that particular company to capitalize on its greatest asset to recoup some losses. To address the issue of needing to create a title that surpasses Final Fantasy 7 in quality of experience and craft; perhaps through giving FF7 the remake that lives up to expectations, the company will grow its ability to create a game that surpasses it on a modern console. Plus it’s a guaranteed success, millions would be pre-ordered. People who haven’t played video games since FF7 would buy it. Consider the following to explain how this remake would help create the game that would surpass FF7. By analyzing the underlying principles that made FF7 stand out against other FF’s, the company can make a game that isn’t a clone of FF7 nor follows it in a formulaic manner. In a way, it would bring the company back closer to the fundamentals of making a truly great gaming experience, epic in scale and story. A group of strong willed characters, not all existentially whiny ones. Epic missions, games such as motorcycle mini game/ snowboard to break up the pace a bit. Gold saucer, a place to chill exploitable chocobo races for rare loot. ******* villain you want to crush, more reasons to crush him. Backstory for the characters, plot twists that add to the drama and saving the world from destruction. The rest I’m sure you should be able to figure out. I’ll be posting this pretty much everywhere, I want the message to spread.Posted by jondoekno on 19/05/2013 16:27
Concerning a Steam release: According to this rumor, yes. http://gs.inside-games.jp/news/394/39479.html Also, the user David managed to find out the following: "I just did some quick searching, and FFVII and FFVIII have game hubs on Steam. You just cannot access them. Also the last update on FFVII's CDR page was 2013-05-15 09:13:50 " MERCHANDISE -TFF Keychains (Zack, Cloud) https://twitter.com/hidemi_mad_dog/status/335557376784625664/photo/1 LUMINOUS ENGINE -3D Dot Game Heroes Developer Provided Tech For Square Enix’s Luminous Engine http://www.siliconera.com/2013/05/17/3d-dot-game-heroes-developer-provided-tech-for-square-enixs-luminous-engine/Posted by Grimoire on 19/05/2013 06:41
I hope FFVIII PC makes it here and on an accessible platform such as Steam (I'm outside of Europe's G5).Posted by HYNE on 18/05/2013 11:47- FINAL FANTASY VIII -Final Fantasy VIII Is Coming To PC With High Resolution Graphics http://www.siliconera.com/2013/05/17/final-fantasy-viii-is-coming-to-pc-with-high-resolution-graphics/ FINAL FANTASY XIV -Final Fantasy XIV Adds Even More Character Customization Features http://www.siliconera.com/2013/05/17/final-fantasy-xiv-adds-even-more-character-customization-features/Posted by Grimoire on 17/05/2013 18:38
- Wow, I can't wait to play this on Vita! This looks incrediblePosted by SBernard4 on 17/05/2013 15:53
- FINAL FANTASY VII -Japanese Introduction Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao1S-fFVzG4&feature=youtube_gdata KINGDOM HEARTS -KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMIX - Community Video "Erste Einblicke" http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2ddv3GxFUH0 BRAVELY DEFAULT -Bravely Default Producers And Director Look Back At Their Achievement http://www.siliconera.com/2013/05/16/bravely-default-producers-and-director-look-back-at-their-achievement/ MUSIC -Live Remix Pictures http://blog.jp.square-enix.com/music/cm_blog/2013/05/cd_7.html MERCHANDISE -"KINGDOM HEARTS PEN CASE ACCESSORY CASE!! Images added! Stay tuned for more updates." https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.160967024079654.1073741837.100004990716473&type=1&l=ef3b9bd54aPosted by Grimoire on 17/05/2013 08:21
- Any news on Chaos Rings for Windows Phone 8? Contemplating getting a Windows Phone 8 device but if Chaos Rings is only on Windows 7 then i guess i will have to get a Windows Phone 7 phone until i complete this game :PPosted by Zavistic on 16/05/2013 23:53
Comments
:D Angry Birds Vs Final Fantasy! Catapulting, firing out of cannons, ect. See who can be shot the furthest and closest to the end zone/boss of that games character.
Or simply just knocking down final fantasy inconic buildings,ect with the characters.
Once again, I want to fire an adorable version of Cloud out of the cannon @u@
My two favourite franchises are the best, each one in each gender. Of course one of them is Final Fantasy as a rpg game franchise, and the other one is Half Life as a shooter franchise from valve. And I always dreamed to mix the magical fantasy of FF and the science fiction of HL and it could be interesting to see in SE or in a partnership job between SE and Valve.
With this i must add that is time for valve to finish with HL2: episode 3. If being waiting for it for a long time.
So I would like to see
The next Mass Effect to have the characters created by Tetsuya Nomura and music by Nobuo Uematsu
and the next Elder Scrolls game to be developed by Eidos Montreal with JJB in directing art and story by Mary DeMarle.
Well, I believe that the results would be something really great and different!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiko:_Drum_Master
I thought that Vagrant Story was a truly fantastic game with an incredible story. I think what really got me with VS was how the cutscenes were directed, where the movements of characters felt real, unlike in the FF games at the time where character animations were still going for cartoonish/animeish.
I had to wait until FFXII to see similar cutscene direction and that game is one of my favorite FFs probably only beat by FFVIII.
He's definitely a director that I'd like to see in more SE games and I wonder what he could with the story of a series in a more modern setting.
I also need to mention Yoshi-P, the work that he's been doing with FFXIV has been great and I hope that he'll stick around for a very long while so I don't want to see him tackling any other projects soon, lol. I won't say that there aren't some design decisions that I'm uncertain of with ARR, but I'm confident that I'll be enjoying the game when its released.
Fav Designer - Akihiko Yoshida: He's just a legend and can accomplish anything! My idol/hero.
/O/ SE should so own the Suikoden Series that Konami refuses to continue @n@; lots of hopeful and angry fans for that series.
I'd love to play an Oblivion kind of game with Yoshida art direction.
Vagrant Story II please :p