January 29, 2004

Gaming While Drunk: First Edition! by Robert Keenan

I figured this was as good a day as any to start writing my column. The decision was pretty arbitrary, with any emerging web site there aren’t a lot of rules yet. So let’s say that I’ll write my weekly column every Friday. Sound good?

Now that’s out of the way we can start talking about what’s going to go on in this space every week. There’s going to be a fair amount of reviews and analysis on this site so what this weekly column will do is try to break through the normal bullshit in the industry. I’m going to assume you can read a decent sentence, and I’m going to assume that you’re as into games and the technology behind them as I am. If either of these two things are not the case, you are more than welcome to pick up GamePro at your local retailer.

If you’re still here, I thank you, and I hope we get to spend a little time together every Friday. Today let’s talk about console peripherals, and where exactly we’re heading when it comes to this subject. A few things going on this month makes this particular subject pretty timely.

The two major games I have in mind here are Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the GameCube and Final Fantasy XI for the PS2. Both of these games have huge pushes behind them, are backed by huge companies (as well as the entity I like to refer to as “Squeenix.”) and have the almighty Final Fantasy name behind them. Both take the franchise in new directions and both require a substantial investment to play. Both are entirely reliant on peripherals and addons to the system they’re being developed for.

What am I talking about? Think about it, Crystal Chronicles is built around multiplayer. Every player who wants to join the game needs their own GBA to play. The screen will have their items, maps, and different information for each player. Each person also needs a GBA/GC link cable to jump in. To get the full experience you need a GC, the game, a GBA or SP, and three friends with handhelds of their own and cables. That’s a lot to get together.

Final Fantasy XI is just as bad, if not worse. You’ll need the PS2 of course, but you also need the network adaptor since the gameplay is online only. The game itself comes with the Sony HDD, at a $99.99 price tag. Depending on how they handle in game communication you’ll also need to buy either a keyboard or a headset, both of which are sold separately. This is a nice sized investment, and even worse when you consider the only people who will think of getting the game already have or are willing to buy the network adaptor, but the ONLY way at present to get the HDD is to buy the game. There is no standalone HDD solution for the PS2 without buying the game, which means either you’re willing to waste $50 or you don’t mind forking out $40 for the network adaptor. You still with me?

Both companies have a lot to lose. If Crystal Chronicles takes off (and Japanese numbers and presells in the US point to it being at the worse a modest success, if not a large selling title) then Nintendo will have proved that connectivity works, and that devs should support it in upcoming games. If not, well, Nintendo will have a lot harder time trying to get people to use their portable units with their ‘Cubes. On the other hand, if Sony’s horribly fragmented strategy for the HDD doesn’t gel they’ll have a hard time selling the things. They are banking on a big sell through with the game and with the network adaptor. Whether consumers are willing to pay for all those addons AS WELL AS a monthly fee is still up for debate.

The other rumor is that the Sony HDD won’t allow players to save games on the hardware instead of buying pricey memory cards when they need storage. When MS gives away the HDD with their system (along with an Ethernet adaptor) and allows near unlimited saves on it without an add on, this does not cast a good light on Sony and may alienate consumers. We’ll see.

The good news is that both companies are branching out and trying new things. Crystal Chronicles looks to be a whole lot of fun if you like the Diablo/Gauntlet style of play and the art is incredible. I have a GC and an SP already so the price of admission isn’t as bad as it will be for others. I also have friends who have GBAs as well, so I’ll have the full run of the game.

Final Fantasy XI on the other hand I’m not so sure of. I don’t have the network adaptor (the only game Sony has online that interests me right now is Tony Hawk: Underground) and paying for the game AND the hardware while still having to shell out for memory cards doesn’t sit well with me. Right now Sony isn’t giving us many compelling reasons to take our PS2s online, and has a lot to learn from MS’s much superior LIVE service. I’m going to take a wait and see. I beta tested FFXI on the PC and enjoyed it, so I may still jump on this.

So what do you guys think? Is the growing trend to utilize more and more expensive addons and peripherals a good or bad thing? Do you think Square’s two gambles will pay off? Sound off on the forums!

Until next Friday, keep playing.

-Written by Robert Keenan

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