Wow, the first non-exclusive Final Fantasy game.

Wow.

I guess its kind of karmic the way that Microsoft is flexing it financial muscles in an attempt to slaughter its compitition the same way Sony did to ensure a win for Blu-ray. Still, as a PS3 owner, this hurts.

I run on Vista x64 and it runs all my games fine, however all my old 16-bit DOS games need to be run in DosBox.

As for the PS2 and PS3, both systems are based on very different and more complex architectures, centered around a single general purpose CPU and a number of special purpose processors: 2 Vector Processing Units for the PS2, and 7 Synergistic Processing Elements for the PS3. As it stands, Sony has managed to emulate most of the functionality of the Emotion Engine on the PS3 (80GB models), but has not been able to emulate the PS2s Graphics Synthesizer (the GS is included in the 80GB PS3s).

While I wouldn't doubt that Sony wants a solution to the BC problem, I am not completely certain that a full working PS2 emulator is feasible on the PS3s hardware (Note: that's not an insult to the PS3, remember that it takes substantially more powerful hardware to emulate a system that's based on a different architecture). And even if it is feasible, its going to be mighty hard to build an emulator for such a complex system on top of an even more complex system.

Maybe this is Blizzard tricking us into thinking Lich King instead of Diablo III. Or maybe Blizzard simply ported the Diablo II runes over to WoW for the new Inscription profession.

Also, I noticed that all the pics with Cecil in them were of Cecil Dark Knight, but where are my pics of Cecil Paladin?

So here's to you Sonic, a simple hedgehog who didn't need no highfalutin arsenal o' guns to save the world. Nope! Sonic, he had one attack, and, by gum, one attack was all he needed! Happy birthday ya old sun of a bitch! Next rounds on me!

While I don't think RE5 is racist, or that changing the game would "fix" anything (though I'm betting that at least the American release will add a few "tourist" in attempts to solve the issue), as a latino, I wouldn't mind seeing a few movies/games/etc with latino protagonists that are not gangsters (or ex-gangsters), are not fighting badguys of the same race, and do not sound like Cheech Marin or Rosie Perez. I'm sure Olorunda feels the same way about her own race.

For those who missed the old post, here's an early trailer of the game: [kotaku.com]
All the dialog is in Russian, though.

@ckranger11: Achievments, Gamer Points, etc are nice and addictive from a marketing/crackhead viewpoint but, in all honesty, they are truly not worthy enough to be considered a major selling point of a system.

hmm Old Snake vs. my old man...

I think I can spend a few hours away from my PS3 :)

Now to wait for Microsoft's response...

I wonder if this game will be subscription based or free to play.

Whatever. Its Square, so I'll at least give it a try.

[/randomThoughts]

These micro-transactions do not necessarily need to unbalance the game either. Rather than having players pay to get uber weapons and armor, developers offer gamers services which can make for a better experience in the game. Take a look at Mabinogi's Shop. For about the price of a WoW subscription Mabinogi gives its players extra bank space, the ability to set up there own shop, rights to create a guild, and a handful of special potions and items to make traveling and leveling a bit easier. For extra cash, you can expand upon the options available at character creation to have a more personalized character. Wow, this all sounds like an ad for them, but my point is that there are micro-transaction services that are not necessarily unfair or unbalanced to players who refuse to pay a premium.

Since there's cash in it, it would be smart for larger MMOs, like WoW, to pick up on it. In the case of WoW, character personalization items would probably be best, like the ability to purchase a special mount. This mount wouldn't have anything special over other in game mounts, but would just look cooler and cost money. Hell, Blizzard is already doing this with their card game and no one seems to mind that.

Well, I guess someone does have to wash all those pots and pans after the cookings done.

Casual games for the tie!!!

Instead I will focus on one of the tangents that this law will end up effecting, namely (non-pornographic) anime in general. Now, I won't argue, as some here already have, that this law will force the exclusion of all perceived underage women from appearing in anime even in a non-sexual manner, as that argument makes little sense to me. Instead, I wish to mearly point out that such a law, if inacted, would close of a major creative vein for the anime industry. I take it that many of the people participating in this discussion are anime fans to at least some degree, so I believe that it is important that people realize that many popular anime series originated as erotic games. Fate/Stay Night, Air, Utawarerumono, Shuffle!, Kanon, and many others first appeared as eroge, and all of these game feature women who are under 18 years of age. If this law is passed, then the creative line from which these anime are drawn will be cut. While I'm not saying this law would mean the end of anime altogether (it certainly wouldn't), I'd hate to imagine all the great anime series we would be missing out on because a group of people felt uncomfortable about "underage" drawings.

Ok, enough of that.

I find the comments stating that SoulCalibur "sold out" rather unfounded, not to mention insulting to the game's developers. The reason I find in unfounded is that the T&A has always been in this series. Not only that but each subsequent installment has shown a growing amount of T&A (both figuratively and literally). Personally, I would find it odder if the series had decided to go in the opposite direction and toned it down a bit. For those of you thinking that SCIV finally brings the T&A factor to the point of being ridiculous: sorry, that happened in SCIII. If you are embarrassed that someone might see you playing the game and think that you are a pervert, I can only offer you this advice: You shouldn't care what other people think. If you know you are not a pervert then you're not. Simple, see ^_^

When I see damienchowder's above described SoulCalibur:Onsen, then I'll consider the possiblity of the series selling out (shortly after I preorder my copy, that is).

Wait!? You mean ActiBlizzaVisionard isn't a reality yet? How much longer do we have to wait until Call of GuitarCraft can become a reality!??!?!!