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Games Entertainment

Final Fantasy IX Pics And Info 89

Posted by emmett from the fight-on dept.
_xeno_ writes "psx.ign.com has a story that includes screen shots about Final Fantasy IX. This game is the last Final Fantasy game for the PlayStation, as future FF games will be for the PlayStation2. Apparently FFIX will be going back to the older-school Final Fantasy - that means swords and sorcery, MP, shorter summons, and characters that are drawn anime-style as opposed to FFVIII's attempt at having 'realistic' characters." Hey, maybe this time we won't have a big soap opera, either. A guy can dream, can't he?
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Final Fantasy IX Pics And Info More

Final Fantasy IX Pics And Info

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  • Re:Why it's called "Final Fantasy" (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    That is utterly and totally false. The square games have always been popular in Japan, and the Rad Racer series was popular here before even Final Fantasy 1 came out. Square has always been a successful company.

    This is just a stupid romantic myth that has been spreading over the Internet and should be stomped out.
  • You'd be right, but this is an obvious troll. Namely because it's basically impossible to confuse the Final Fantasy series with the Street Fighter series. Even the most clueless of the censors can pick that up. Particularly since the person knows enough about the game to know that Chun-Li does, in fact, practice kung fu (specifically, the wushu style). To actually know which art she practices and not know the name of the game is pretty much impossible.

    So what we have here is an intentional troll, doing nothing but trying to stir up trouble. Granted the article should have been rated Troll instead of Flamebait, but I support whoever modded this one down.
  • Couldn't help it!


    try this..... funn y [askjesus.org]



    Troc

  • it's not just the ergonomics of the controller, though i think sony's analog pads are nearly perfect - but the fact that the whole experience of the game is constructed around that simple direction+button interface.

    more than anything else, that promotes a pick-up-and-try-it approach which more often than not works. When did you ever see a pc game that you could just have a go at without reading a thing?

    my best example is playing metal gear solid via vgs on a powerbook. you can't beat it for train-journey entertainment, but as a gaming setup it's vastly poorer than the playstation itself.

    so here's hoping for halflife 2 on playstation 2...
  • Unless you're extremely strong at that part of the game, you DON'T kill Edge's parents. And you are never actually forced to attack them. All you have to do is defend yourself and when the dialog runs out, they'll come to their senses and kill themselves. (if I ruined some plot for someone playing the game right now, too bad. you shoulda been playing a few years ago)
  • I dunno if anyone noticed but the black wizard [ign.com] is exactly the same as the black (dark magic) wizard from Final Fantasy 1. Man that takes me back....
  • *SIGH*

    I just bought Dream Hunters yesterday, a Sandman story collaboration between Amano and Neil Gaiman. Too bad they can't make the entire FFIX game in Amano's art style. His artwork is fantastic.
  • ...but I cannot be there 24 hours a day, and anti-Christian propaganda is everywhere and insidious.

    What you say may be true, but there's a bit of a difference between "anti-Christian propaganda" and simple fiction. Moreover, the parent who won't teach his children to choose wisely for themselves is no Christian parent; God purportedly gave us all the free will to accept or deny Him, and to countermand that merely stunts your offspring's mental health as well as countermands God's will. God didn't make us to follow blindly.
  • I think the word you want is Phallic. ;)
  • <i>"and even that changed in FF VIII."</i>

    Well it wasn't an airship but it flew none the less. Maybe he should have been the lost pilot of the Ragnarok instead of Headmaster?

  • This then branches out into a point I've always wondered, how important is the ergonimics of a game in the grand scheme of things. Given the game on 2 platforms would you sacrifice ease of playing (i.e decent controllers) for cutting edge graphics?

    Decent controllers are important, but there are other things which make playing games on pc's less joyfull for the average joe user.

    - Compability hassels (i.e. "you need (directx xx.yyyy|mesa xx|n megabyte of ram/megahertz chip/megabyte on hd)

    linked to that point are
    - instability, forcing you to download update xxx from the game's homepage
    - frustration when you were fooled by the minimum hardware requirements of the game (try f1gp2000 on a 300Mhz P2 with the default setting -> 2 fps)

    And general pc-gaming disadvantages (sp?)
    - unability to follow an instant gaming urge, i.e. turn on computer, wait 2 min. until you finally are able to start the game (and then another more or less long timespan until it's finally started)
    - a plethora of possible input devices, making it hard for the designers to optimize the game for ergonomie

  • I very rarely play PC games, mainly due to the fact that it requires me to sit at my desk, which feels too much like being at work.

    To me. games should be played either sitting cross-legged on the floor or sitting on the sofa, with beer very close to hand. I know I could do this with a PC, but using an IR keyboard sitting on a sofa is no joke.

    There is also the display factor. Even if it does offer lower resolution, I prefer the size of my 25" TV to the clarity of my much smaller monitor.
  • Sorry, I can't agree with you here.
    1.) Ultima is not 'christian' because it uses 'christian'-like symbols. Ultima is christian in that sense that it promotes something like the crusades in the middle ages (slaughter everybody who doesn't agree with you, and bow before your king who is always right.)

    FF OTH (at least 7) promotes something like: think, decide and act for yourself, and don't blindly the ones which're deciding for you.

    The virtues, morality and ethics you described are btw present in most religions all over the world.

    2.) Japanese games usually have (IMHO) a better, more budistic, philosophy. Yes, they are sometimes
    more violent than 'Western' games, and they often don't have that 'happy end' you maybe have whished, but thats more honest than many other games or movies.
    which leads me to point

    3.) don't underestimate children! IMHO children from any age should learn to handle diffrent philosphical ideas to train them to be open-minded, what makes them even more capable to find their place in life, not only in society...

  • In this case the PlayStation has an inherant advantage over the PC because Final Fantasy was written for the Playstation, and ported to the PC (almost as an after thought). As a result, the controls are hard to use and doesn't seem to take full advantage of your system (mouse, other 90 keys, etc).

    The one thing that really disappoints me in FF8 is the lack of voices. I'll probably get flamed on this, but I was watching my roommate play a game called Monkey Island 3 (or something like that) where the character walked around and talked to people to solve certain puzzles. In this game, the characters actually had voices, instead of reading what they say on the screen. I think it made the game much more fun to play (and watch).

  • Yes... the number of CD's is large. However, it takes so long to go from one cd to the next (at least the first one -- I haven't had time to get past it :) I wonder if there are so many CD's just to discourage burning them...

    I think a text-to-speech engine might work, if it was good. That would save space, and be easy to use. Of course, if it was crappy, it wouldn't work.

    I just think it was disappointing to see so much effort put into the cut scenes and the fighting module (both are very good graphically) and so seemingly little effort (comparitively) put into the rest of the game.
  • Final Fantasy is better for the console systems because it's a console RPG. Computer RPGs, I find, have less story and more "role-playing." You build up your character, choose their stats, choose their actions, etc. It's supposed to be you in the game. You choose who to kill, you choose where to go next, it's more open ended. Console RPGs focus more on a main story with plot twists, relationships, revenge, all that crap. You start with some character and the only reason to gain levels is so you can defeat the boss and proceed to the next story twist. You have no real control of where the story takes you. These types of RPGs are better on the console because they're simple. If I sit in front of a tv and turn on my Playstation, I'd like to see some action or some story. Since computers can handle bigger worlds with changing characters, computer RPGs have those statistics. I for one, prefer computer RPGs better. I can't stand the linearity of console RPGs. If I wanted to watch a movie, I'd pay 8 bucks at the theatre.
  • A new console only a year after the current is released? That kinda sucks. One of the great things about consoles has been lifetime. First off is relatively low cost. Second, once you buy, it's nice to know it will work great for a good long while before it is obsolete. the orginal 8-bit nintendo, about 6 years before the supernintendo, playsation has been around approximately 6 years before PSX2 moves in. Advances are great and everything, but I think it's better to keep the game manufacturers making cames for a particular platform longer than to bring out the hottest and greatest as quick as possilbe.
    Also bad is the proposed use of an Athlong 2 ghz.. Guess Sony is afraid of the X-Box and wants to make the same promises of "higher cost, heat, but look at all those hertz!" PC compatiblity may be good, but RISC is what has made consoles the low-power/low-heat powerhouses they've always been!
  • I don't think SD3 is related at all to Bahamut Lagoon, except for maybe approximate release time. As far as I know Bahamut Lagoon's a different game.
  • Mystic Quest, as far as I know, was kind of a bastard child of the series. It was aimed at newbie RPGers, and was pathetically easy. It was a cute game, but certainly lacked the depth of FFs 4-8. Had some great music, though.

    Oh, and Final Fantasy Adventure for the Game Boy (lest someone ask) was actually the first in the Seiken Dentetsu series, the sequel to which was Secret of Mana in the US. At least, I'm pretty sure. The third in the series wasn't released here, but a group translated the ROM and it's fairly easy to find.
  • Actually, it wouldn't be SUCH a bad idea, specially if they plan to include voices...

    *ducking*

    No, seriously, FFVII was already 4 discs for the PC version, and FFVIII was 1 install + 4 game disks... is it competing with Wing Commander or Phantasmagoria in disc amount?! :)
  • Actually, Japan's 4th was our 2nd, and Japans 6th was our 3rd.

    Japan - 4(US-2 SNES)
    Japan - 6(Us-3 SNES)

    And I have to agree, the SNES FF2 & FF3 were the best :)

    (Got zsnes with both roms, woo!)
  • Particularly since the person knows enough about the game to know that Chun-Li does, in fact, practice kung fu (specifically, the wushu style). To actually know which art she practices and not know the name of the game is pretty much impossible.
    D00d, I so want to learn that. Do they teach the "bounce on top of opponent's head until they fall over and die" trick?
    --
    "HORSE."
  • This is what happened somewhere in Spain a couple of days ago. A 16 years boy murdered his mother, father and little sister with a katana (a gift from his father). Nobody understood why, 'cause the guy was not a "problematic" child. Then, someone discovered some satanic books in his room, and a copy of Final Fantasy VII. It happens this guy was a big fan of the game. Suddenly ALL newspaper, TV news, radio and carrier piggeons, were giving the news that the game was the ultimate cause for the crime. The idea is that the guy in the game is an orphan, so this crazy boy decided to be one too. Some even say they look alike. I personally can't stand the simple logic some so called journalists use in some newspapers and TV.
  • Sheesh, even the Pope finally apologized recently for the Crusades. Violence is basically the opposite of what true Christians believe in. Lay off already, will you? THANK YOU!
  • This was posted by me in the comment about a month ago on the Final Fantasy Movie, which brought up the same questions on version numbers (I couldn't link directly to my comment, for some reason!)
    -ERP

    Here's a comparison of the different incarnations of Final Fantasy:

    Japan Title: Final Fantasy 1 (Famicom)
    US Title: Final Fantasy 1 (NES)

    Japan Title: Final Fantasy 2 (Famicom)
    US Title: Not Released

    Japan Title: Final Fantasy 3 (Famicom)
    US Title: Not released
    (now, hold your horses, keep reading)

    Japan Title: Final Fantasy 4 (Super Famicom)
    US Title: Final Fantasy 2 (SNES)
    (Note: The US version is substantially different that the Japanese version)

    Japan Title: Final Fantasy 5 (Super Famicom)
    US Title: Final Fantasy Anthology (PSX), under title Final Fantasy 5. Has been spruced up with some added scenes and CGI. First time released in US.

    Japan Title: Final Fantasy 6 (Super Famicom)
    US Title: Final Fantasy 3 (SNES). Also under Final Fantasy Anthology (PSX), under title Final Fantasy 6. Has been spruced up with some added scenes and CGI.
    (IMO, the best of the series... I haven't tried the anthology version, though.)

    Japan Title: Final Fantasy 7 (PSX)
    US Title: Final Fantasy 7 (PSX)

    Japan Title: Final Fantasy 8 (PSX)
    US Title: Final Fantasy 8 (PSX)

    I know I'm leaving out Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, Final Fantasy Tactics, and others. I'm not sure what their equivalents are. Also, don't ask for dates... I don't know those, either.

    If you want to play any of these games nowadays to experience them, you must either find a way to get one of the originals, or use an emulator, and download the ROM image of the game. I cannot tell you where to get either, because use of emulators has been determined to be illegal. All I can say is if you're reading this, you are smart enough to use a search engine.
  • I posted a note describing version numbers back in March. I reposted it, and you can see it Here [slashdot.org] .

    ALSO, on Final Fantasy Anthology:

    Final Fantasy Anthology has been out in the US for a few months now. It includes the following games, which have been touched up a bit with new scenes and new CGI FMV movies:

    Final Fantasy 5 (released in Japan as Final Fatasy 5 Super Famicom, never released in US)

    Final Fantasy 6 (released in Japan as Final Fantasy 6 Super Famicom, released in US as Final Fantasy 3 Super Nintendo)

    You can get Final Fantasy Anthology for Playstation, an it runs you about $40-50, depending where you get it. It also, once you complete the game, puts a saved game on your Playstation memory card so you can go to a special area and view behind the scenes footage, making of, and view the FMV movies.

  • Which one was Mystic Quest?
  • Christian values? I prefer good old fashioned Buddhist values myself.

  • >> Personally I would like to think I have values that are essentially Christian in nature
    >> (i.e be nice etc etc :) but I don't believe in God (any gods).

    > Without a firm belief in the power and love of our Lord then your so-called "values" are
    > meaningless, since the Bible teaches that values come from the worship of God and
    > following the teachings of his Church. Anyone espousing "values" in any other context is
    > just deluding themselves, crying out for love but trying to deny their subconscious
    > wish to be part of something greater.

    I'm sorry, but in all respect, you are the one deluding themselves. You need to go back and listen to the most basic, and the most important of Christ's teachings: "Love one another, as you would love yourself." It does not say "You should love everyone else, because My Father wants you to." You forget that Jesus was not trying to start a new religion, He was trying to teach love for your fellow man. I agree with the first post quoted here. Christian does not mean worship of the Lord.
  • So you really think that I am a bad person just because I`m playing Quake III? You are really ill ... sorry
  • You are kidding, aren't you?
  • I don't want to start arguing about religion, because /. ain't the right place for it. But it's the same with nearly all Christians out there: You say that the games teach your kids bad things and no "real values". Why don't you teach your kids that these RPGs are only games and that there's a difference between a game and the real life. It's your job as a parent to do this. Not Ultima's nor any other game's.
  • I was looking through the pics and came across the pic of the weird boy. [ign.com] Anyway, his dagger,sword sure has dildoish (didlic?) looks to it? Anyone else see this?
  • a 128-bit, vector-drawn reinvention of Pong I...
    *drool*

    (p.s. - yes, i know this isn't funny... i've been awake all night, though, so its funny to me...)

  • I've always liked playing them on the PC, mostly because I don't like the Playstation. Dunno why, maybe because I don't like some of Sony's business tactics. (Yes, I know Square is practically part of Sony) Plus, the PC versions have higher-res graphics and actually run faster with a good system/3D accelerator/drivers. Finally, I know that the PC version of FFVII was harder than the American PSX version, although I'm not sure if it was as hard as the Japanese version. I'm not sure about FFVIII, but I know there were some changes.


    -RickHunter
  • How about Pong Kombat [neu.edu]?! You can even do fatalities and cool stuff like that.

  • http://www.askjesus.org/ask.cgi?http://slashdot.or g/comments.pl?sid=00/04/03/2152228&cid=7

    -giggle-
    Thad

  • wrong wrong wrong. what happened to the link? its seems to have been munged, damn it, copy and paste this into your browser, its funny.

    Example:

    I agree with thee. Unto to a cubit. As a lifelong socialist and Linux supporter, I just wish these games wouldst encourage a biteth more "congregation spirit".

    Thad
  • Its internet time dude. Internet Time. People in this industry don't get to sleep. Sleep is for the weak. Its not just Amaricans that read geek news. The worlds full of geeks. They all need news. All of them. All the time. No time to stop. Don't stop. News. Geeks. Awake. Work. Argrhghg.
    Thad
  • Well, besides noting that the FF IX info has been on IGN for at least a week, I thought I'd shed a little light on the matter of "Final" Fantasy.
    One popular theory is that the game represents the characters' own final adventure, as they are always attempting to save the world, how much grander can you get? In some games, the characters actually die trying, but I won't spoil it by saying which. Notice that besides the repetition of a character named "Cid," there are no cross-overs of characters as main characters. Sure, Cloud was thrown into a few games as secrets after the mega success, but he never went on another big adventure. As far as Cid goes, the character is always different anyway, being linked only to the airship, and even that changed in FF VIII.
    I like to think of Final Fantasy as a designation that means "Another quality Squaresoft game that they spent mucho dinero in development." I just hope they concentrate on a better storyline for 9, as 8's story was pretty bad, compared with graphically inferior Xenogears and FFTactics.

  • Oh yes.... I saw this when I was in teh US in November.... Problem was - I had only enough money for one game... it was Either FF Anthology of FFVIII.
    I had that choice, and I picked FF Anthology..and what a good choice. I later recieved FF8 for christmas, and though the graphics were better, what a crappy game! Makes me yearn for more games like FFTactics or Xenogears. Fuck graphics if the game isn't good.

  • have you checked out the FF Anthology? FF V and FFVI all wrapped up in one cheap PSX package. also comes with a nifty keen music cd..

  • Just to note...

    The Playstation has a 2x CD-ROM drive. What makes it so (relatively) fast is the fact that it normally keeps the disc at a constant spin.

    J. T. MacLeod

  • Have you learned nothing from Columbine ? Quake was responsible for that. How many deaths must Final Fantasy cause before the American people wake up and ban it ?

    In the mean time, concerned slashdotters should boycott it, and any stores which stock it.

    You make some good points, but clearly you do not go far enough. I suggest boycotting any stores which stock it, along with any stores which employ anyone whom has ever played one of those games. After all, you never know when one of those crazed Final Fantasy junkies will go nuts and start laying waste with the patented "Rhydia whip" or impale himself while trying to weild a rediculously oversized 6'x1'x2" steel sword.

  • Basically, Square had been a miserable flop as far as game development went, and they were going to have to close their doors if something dramatic didn't happen. So, they took all their remaining money and poured it into one last big game, in the hope that maybe it would be able to at least allow them to pay off their debts before closing down. It was to be their last game, and hence, the "Final Fantasy." Instead, the game was made a tremendous amount of money, allowing Square not only to pay off their outstanding debts, but left them with plenty to continue developing games far into the future. And now you know.
  • This game is the last Final Fantasy game for the PlayStation, as future FF games will be for the PlayStation2.

    I'm seeing this as the end of PS1 (new games will be PS2 only). FFX and FFXI will be relased for PS2 but there is already rumours about PS3 and PS4 here [psx2.com].
    _________________________

  • Personally, I was surprised by the announcement that FFIX would use superdeformed characters. I loved FFVIII realistic character designs and I know I'm going to miss them...

    However, FFX (for the PS2) is going to have realistic characters, so my guess is that FFIX is the way Square is trying to cool down the "old school" gamers who think 3D and Full Motion Video are big no-nos, while FFX is oriented to quench the thirst of the fans (like me) who prefer realistic models (as well as all those millions of fans who entered into the FF world with FFVII).

    Even so, I have a great faith in the game. SuperDeformed characters or not, I'm sure the game itself will be a delightful experience just like the other eight were. And Nobuo Uematsu, the musician of the series, is back, so the music will be great, as always...

    BTW, have you seen the Coke commercial with the FFIX characters? Great animation! Can't wait to see those in-game FMV cinemas...
    -------------------------------------- ---------------------

  • It would be nice if the games weren't toned down for the US audience. FF6 is still my favorite and is a cakewalk with the level bonuses and insane cheapness. As far as FF8 goes, the story is boring at times, especially when Laguna talks. If you can manage to sit through all 4 discs you'll get to see a very nice ending. The difficulty is reduced to almost nil if you power up correctly. Not to mention unlimited refinement of invincibility potions.
  • Fscking FF 1 & 2 were for the NES, not the PSX.
    As I recall it goes something like...
    Japan - 1
    Japan - 2 (US - 1, NES)
    Japan - 3
    Japan - 4
    Japan - 5(US - 2, SNES)
    Japan - 6(US - 3, SNES)
    Then finally 7 & 8 PSX.

    To sound all olsk00lish or something... FF3(us) and Chrono Trigger still beat all hands down ;)

  • ...was awful, terrible, and not worth the FF name. The graphics were half-ass, the music was.. okay.. the story was just not there, and it lasted for about 3 seconds. I agree, this was a bastard spin off but the official roots of it I cannot remember.

    Yeah, you beat me to FFA, I own that. Not the greatest either, but it's decent. Gee, so I guess it's somewhat well known that Secret of Mana wasn't the first in its series.. drat, no more specialness for me ;)

    Seiken Detsu 3... shoot me for asking this cause my memory is rusty but is that in any way related to Bahamut Lagoon or is it just that they were put out at about the same time that's confusing me. In any case, looks like it's time to get in touch w/ my SNES ;)

  • Ah, yes...the good old english FF V rom. Unfortunately, the translations weren't always that great, so it kinda lost a little bit of the FF edge as far as dialogue, but of course much better than taking out my japanese to english dictionary and pausing every time somone said something... :)
  • I hope you won't consider this a flame, as I wouldn't mind having voice in the FF series. But, at the same time, FF8 was already 4 CDs; I'll live with the text instead of having 6 or 8 or more CDs....

    At the risk of mentioning that almost 4-letter word 3 letter acronym DVD... Hopefully this will provide Square with a format practical enough to add voices to PS2 versions of FF.

    ....Paul
  • Oy, I din't realize what you were talking about at first.... the sheath looked fine, but the handle, gaack! Yow, now you've ruined that game for me forever (not that I would've played anyhoo, I'm not an RPG buff). On the note of that pic, lets play everyone's favourite game, guess the gender! Its a boy! No, its a girl! Its a Kenshin!
  • While you're right about the plot and such, I think that FF1 had the best spell system. Spells were a big deal in FF1, you saved them for emergencies, 'cause many of them could only be used once per outing. In most of the new games, you lob them left right and center, and they really aren't much more effective then attacking (Xenogears is the worst for this, spells are worst then fists). Besides, Star Control 2 is still the best RPG ever.
  • Kudos, this is some of the best trolling I've seen in a long time. You had me going right up to that last post.
  • You looked at it? They brought back their older writers, and put a little bit of munchkinness back into the characters (more like FF7's shapes).
  • I for one am very pleased with the new graphics and as another user posted before http://www.ffonline.com had alot more screenshots. Yet Again Squaresoft will cease to amaze us.
  • Actually, I can give several good reasons this would be true (having played both FFVII and FFVIII on both PC and PSX). First, they were designed from the bottom up to be console games, with all the faults (save points) and advantages (tight, fast-loading game) thereof. Secondly, the PC versions were done poorly, only porting the PSX version straight over... graphics, sound, and everything. This means that you end up with artifacts in your picture, questionable backgrounds and so on. While FFVIII's graphics may be state of the console art, with 3d characters and 2d (but beautiful) backgrounds, they pale in comparison to exquisitely made games like Half-Life and Quake 3. All that being said, I think the big problem with playing it on a computer is that the power of the computer makes any flaws that would have been invisible on the PSX visible on your monitor. -Rg
  • I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but they orginally were planning on keeping the US numbers in since, as they did for both FFII and FFIII which were actually the fourth and sixth Final Fantasy game respectively. There was SO much hype about "Final Fantasy VII" before it was ready to be released in the US that they couldn't call it Final Fantasy IV anymore - it would confuse customers.

    As for Anthology, it's already out in the US and persumably Europe, but playing Super Nintendo games on a PlayStation isn't much fun - SNES had minimal load times, the PlayStation has a 4X CD-ROM drive... (And the only never-before-released-in-the-US game was Final Fantasy V, which features a job system sorta similar to Final Fantasy Tatics.)

  • Why are all the sequels still called "Final"?

    This is the last one. No, wait. THIS is the last one. No, wait. I really mean it now. Number 9. This will absolutely, positively by the final Final Fantasy.

  • Don't joke, man. They'll do it. They did it with Pacman...
  • Play nice, Jasper.
  • I agree with you. Bill should be treated fairly. I like Mr. Gates. He has learned alot about the U.S. government and how ignorant politicians would easily sell him out of his own company for not contributing democratic campaign $$dough$$. Linus is a realy good guy too. He has not much say on where LinuxOS will be in the future and he would like it that way. That is LinuxOS's strength, I suppose. Anonomous programming. It is a possibility that LinuxOS will take over the entire market and the corrupt DOJ will not know who to sue. I visited the sight and I think I shouldn't subscribe. All companies will defend themselves and I would rather not correspond to what anyone hypes about their own company. Actions speak louder than words. I am happy to see a clean-spoken person, as yourself, on /.
    :o)
  • Can it ball a jack? Can it lay a track? Can it pick, and, shovell too? Unlike the Final Fatacy, my ATARI 2600 will do whatever I tell it to.
  • Stop being so vulgar. It is that simple. I mean no disrespect. However, you are an AC. ACs have no honor, only fear.
  • Boy, it never ceases to amaze me how many people fall for a troll. Makes my work day a pleasure when I read the threads :)
  • And why am I still here reading about FF IX? I haven't played it in years! But maybe if they're actually going back to a style that emphasizes fantasy instead realism, I'll look again. I'm not a big fan of all the games now that try to use photorealistic 3d humanoids. What's the point of animation if it's trying to look like film?
  • I don't fear the judgement of my Lord because I don't subscribe to any single one - but please read on to understand why I feel this way. My actions are all of my own volition. My values are based on respect for life. I have a lifetime to make my choices, and in my opinion it is far better to make a reasoned judgement based on experience than make a choice based entirely on the opinions of others. Any deity worth being devoted to must surely accept that followers will take their own choices in life - is it better that a person acts through knowledge or fear of sanctions? When (if) I subscribe to a specific religion it will be through my own choice having seen and heard the opinions of many different groups. In conclusion, I am not an atheist, but as yet I don't feel I've discovered enough information in this lifetime to commit to a choice that could well affect me for eternity.
  • Dont forget the Wedge and Biggs are also reoccuring characters. Their names taken from Star Wars, of course.
  • somewhere along this heap of messages someone asked what mystic quest was. final fantasy mystic quest was the brainchild of squaresoft (the usa division of square), and it was meant to be an entry level RPG. if i'm not mistaken they dumped this out after FF2 and before FF3, so i think it was to prepare the legions of new FF people for FF3/6, which was indeed quite wicked.
    so hey, one more thing: if they're bringing back the oldschool medieval guy, does that mean they're gonna make the games hard again? is it just me, or were final fantasy 7 and 8 cakewalks compared to some of the older ones? 8 seems a bit rougher, and admittedly i never finished it, but that's cuz i was wickedly bored about 15 hours into it. but they don't touch games like FF2 (jap) and FF5 in terms of difficulty. hell even FF4 was tough, maybe it was because i was 13, maybe it was because of the game.. but i remember the delta sisters whipping my ass some 25 times in a row, and consequently my figuring out that i needed multiple save slots in case i entered a point of no return.
    oh yah, and who remembers back in the day when square was going to bring out FF5 as "Final Fantasy Extreme" on the SNES as the "expert RPG" and then launch FF6 as the next official final fantasy? those were the days.. i wish i still had my promo pamphlet they sent me, cuz it had logos on it and everything. at least they finally got it out in the anthology.

  • Influence of computer games (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I am personally a huge fan of computer RPGs and have been playing them since back in the days of the Bard's Tale and the early Ultimas, and it's great to see that the genre is still improving even today.

    But what I'm writing about is the worrying trend in these games in which the stories neglect the basic premises of morality and decency. The Ultima series promoted its "Virtues", and you won by doing things in a decent Christian way. As such I would feel fine about my six year old son playing them, because they would be both having a lot of fun and being taught morality and ethics.

    But the recent trend in Japanese games is getting worrying - the main character in this is a 16-year old thief, and what kind of values does that teach our children? That thieves are actually "good guys" and that their criminal natures are actually assets to them in real life? This kind of thing is not what we should be allowing our kids to be exposed to at a young age.

    The other main thing I am concerned about is the overtly pagan nature of these games, with their "religions" and "dieties" which are in direct contradiction with the truth of God. I mean, it's all very well for adults to be exposed to these themes, as we are well aware of the pitfalls inherent within them, but children are much more malleable and are vulnerable to such ideas. What we need is a more Christian take on the CRPG genre - a game that teaches children the Christian values that will serve them well in later life as they take their place in society.

  • I'd almost think you were one of the lunatic fringee. But you're still an obvious fake; you're not capitalizing enough words. This has the effect that you don't sound arrogant enough.

    In particular, you forgot to capitalize "Truth of God." Any real lunatic-zealot would have done that. "Pagan" would probably have been capitalized too.

    You also forgot to mention Hell, that favorite subject of the Christian Right (don't ask me why; look through the entire Bible and you'll find that Hell isn't even mentioned once). Any decent lunatic zealot would have mentioned that in some way or another.

    I should also point out that you seem to know little about Ultima. It does indeed promote its "Virtues," but it never mentions God, thus how can you know it promotes doing things in a "decent Christian way"? While most lunatic zealots do tend to misinterpret and overblow things, but they're a bit more careful than that.

    Finally, you didn't outright advocate the banning of RPG's. Any self-respecting lunatic-zealot (if such a thing can be said to exist) would have dont that. For that matter, you aren't angry enough; the Christian Right is always angry about anything against which it rants.

    Satirizing the Christian Right is a fun thing, and I wholeheartedly endorse it. I've done it myself, once or twice. You've shown no small talent in doing it, too; look at all the people you've fooled. But you still need a bit of practice. Unfortunately, the Church of the Mighty Lamb (the satirical site which brought us such gems as "Satan Trek," "Blasphemy 5," "Darth Pimp," "Pervert Pooh," and "My Little Pony is a WHORE!") appears to be gone, or I'd link to it. It's a great example of mocking the Christian Right; the long list of hate-mail shows you just how effective it is at fooling people. Certainly required reading for religious satirists.
  • I guess the important point is whether you believe the game reality affects the people who play it.


    Personally speaking I enjoy a game for it's game-ness. I've played D&D etc as evil and good characters equally - both are fun and have merits etc but at the end of the day it's a game, not reality


    As to Christian values, I think a lot of games DO teach these - even RPGs like D&D etc it all depends whether you equate Christain values with a belief in God

    Personally I would like to think I have values that are essentially Christian in nature (i.e be nice etc etc :) but I don't believe in God (any gods)


    I believe a persons values are vastly more important than their beliefs and I don't think a computer game affects people's beliefs. It might sway someone who's on the borderline but it's not the main factor

    Troc

  • Eeek.. there's me still not player FF8 yet! Not done so as I can't spare the week of life it'll alost certainly lose me once I start playing. FF7 nearly destroyed a month of my life a couple of years ago!

    heh

    troc
  • It's Ironic that a Game callded Fanal Fantasy spawned 7 sequels... and a 9th is coming..

    It's almost enough to make me want to learn Japanese, since that was teh only way to play FFV for a long time. Then some rom hackers went and did an unnoficial translation.

    FFVI (or FFIII) was one of the best games ever released - easily the best of teh series. I actually bought an NTSC super nintendo to play it because there were bugs when runnign it on my PAL unit. But they're jsut always such vast and sprawling events that it take smoths to find everything - I've still to complete the card queen quest in my current FFVIII game before I head off to face Adel in the Lunatic Pandora.

    I can't Wait...

  • Oh yes.... I saw this when I was in teh US in November.... Problem was - I had only enough money for one game... it was Either FF Anthology of FFVIII.

    But - I'll be back, and I'll pick up the Anthology. Of course - It would be nice if they'd release it in the UK.
  • Hey, this site doesn't seem to have that much new stuff ... the place with the cool FFIX interviews and previews for ages has been Final Fantasy Online [ffonline.com] which has some wicked Q&A's with the creators and dudes behind the FF series. Japanese slant to it, of course.

    Oh, and they got walkthroughs, not that I needed them :-)
  • If it were me, I'd be making FFI all over again. As a consumer, I personally prefer FFI over all the others, and would much, MUCH prefer to be able to go back and play that game with its excellent plot and subtle nuances, as opposed to these new-fangled gizmos with all the 3d effects and that.

    Despite the advances in technology, I have enjoyed no game more than the original FFI. If any FF game were to be ported to Linux, I wish, I really wish, it would be FFI. (Well, there are always ROMs...) Cheers!

  • ...and as such, I say PHOOEY!

    The best Final Fantasy gaming platform is the Super NES!
    Damn CD's. Damn video clips. Damn 3D graphics.

    ^!@#%$^!$&*!!!

    ;)
  • 10? Hey why not "Zelda 2000" or "Zelda Millenium"
    ;->
  • A while ago, Penny Arcade [penny-arcade.com] had up 3 movies, featuring gameplay from FF9 and 10, and concept art for FF11 (apparently a MMRPG.) They took it down about a day after it went up, perhaps becuase it was bootlegged out of a theatre. The stuff from FF9 looks great, but FF10...It took me a few times watching it to realize it wasn't a prerendered animation sequence I was watching, but actual gameplay of the main guy running around. Friggin' Amazing. I don't know if it was posted anywhere else, but it's probably worth finding them to see it. The movies are about 3 min each.
    "You should never have your best trousers on when you turn
  • I am a Christian myself, but I find myself not really agreeing with you at all on several points.

    First, it is annoying that you seem to ignore the values espoused by all other religions. This is the type of thinking which has lead to needless "Holy Wars" between cultures who have far more in common than not.

    Personally, I feel that RPGs are getting much better. The hero isn't some perfect, shining figure that always does everything right. That's not the least bit realistic, especially if the character is supposed to be a human. The "anti-hero" philosophy is very attractive to me; yes, sometimes the "hero" screws up, sometimes they make bad decisions, sometimes people die. This is life. Of course, life doesn't have Cure3 and Airships, but more realism makes for a more enjoyable game--at least, when it is played by humans. You do believe that all people are flawed sinners, correct? Why would you want to present an image of something else to children, and give them the wrong idea? As they say, nobody's perfect.

    Also, you MUST be able to question your beliefs if they are true. If your beliefs are truly so strong, and you are certain of your faith, then you should feel not at all threatened by made-up religions in video games. I didn't go off and start worshipping Espers after playing zillions of hours of Final Fantasy 6, even though it was one of the coolest things I had ever seen. That's ridiculous.

    Sorry for going offtopic on this, but it as someone who both believes in God and loves RPGs, it really struck a nerve...

  • PLEASE tell me that someone will go over the artwork in this game before they port this to non-japan... It's bad enough this character wears makeup, dresses in lace, and has prada boots, but is a HUGE FLESH TONE PENIS SHAPED DILDO SWORD REALLY NECESSARY? Who drew this?

    penis-sword character at http://www.ffonline.com/1_ff9tgs/zidan313minaba.jp g [ffonline.com]

  • I wonder if the next Zelda to come out (probably for the Dolphin) will also be strategically versioned, for instance... Zelda 10? Or are software-companies the only ones dumb enough to engage in these practices? :)

    Also, are Final Fantasy #2-9 supposed to be contradicting or was the success of Final Fantasy #1 totally unexpected? :)

  • The Final Fantasy series is not inflating the numbers. In Japan there have been 8 different Final Fantasy games released. Role playing games in Japan are insanely popular, to the point that the government asks ompanies to release them on Saturday's to reduce the number of kids skipping school to get the new game.

    They are planning on releasing an anthology containing several of the final fantasy games that we here in the states missed. Don't know any detials, but I'm sure if you look you can find them.

    --Travis
  • Surely if children are so easily influenced, it would be just as damaging to introduce Christian values and teachings into games. How about the myriad of other religions? At least by using deities which are known to be fictional, there is no unfair bias to any religious group by the designers of the game. I have no objection to the game promoting values, but they should be presented from a non-religious aspect - is it such an unusual notion that people could treat each other with respect just because life is better that way, rather than doing it because a particular religious group claims that a deity requests it. This isn't intended as Troll-bait, but I'll not be surprised if it ends up that way.

  • Re:Another cool FF site (Score:3)

    by troc ( 3606 ) <troc@@@mac...com> on Tuesday April 04, 2000 @01:38AM (#1153070) Homepage Journal
    eeeew - terrible spelling mistakes etc in the previous post. Sorry.

    Out of utter curiosity what platform do we think FF(insert numerals here) is best on.....

    i.e Consoles (PSX (1&2), Dreamcast etc) or PCs (Mac, Win, Linux etc)

    I've player FF7 on PSX and PC and I actually enjoyed the PSX version more but I'm not sure why.... Maybe if I used a game controller instead of keyboard?

    This then branches out into a point I've always wondered, how important is the ergonimics of a game in the grand scheme of things. Given the game on 2 platforms would you sacrifice ease of playing (i.e decent controllers) for cutting edge graphics?

    troc

  • Re:FF 9 10 & 11 movies (Score:3)

    by vitaflo ( 20507 ) on Tuesday April 04, 2000 @05:54AM (#1153071) Homepage
    The movies you speak of do exist. You can find them on the same website that this story was posted on (IGN) here [ign.com].

  • FF Soap? (Score:4)

    by Effugas ( 2378 ) on Tuesday April 04, 2000 @05:43AM (#1153072) Homepage
    FF, with the exception of the very early ones(which didn't even have
    *characters*), has *always* has deep and meaningful stories...or soaps, if
    you want to call them that.

    FF2/4's Rosa/Cecil, Rydia's tragic loss of her mother(*you* *kill* *her*
    *mom*), Edward's loss of Anna at the Battle of Damcyan, Edge being forced
    to kill his own horribly disfigured parents, the darkly honorable
    Rubicant, the prodigal Golbez, the sacrificial Cid...

    The rest of the series hasn't been much different, though I do
    agree--something did change, and it wasn't altogether perfect.

    Yours Truly,

    Dan Kaminsky
    DoxPara Research
    http://www.doxpara.com

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