I haven't read the interview in question, but chances are it was with Hironobu Sakaguchi, a known drama queen. Square Inc. / Squaresoft has been successful (by varying degrees) since the company began.
Anyway, just because something sounds romantic doesn't mean it's true.
Well, even in Japan it's called "Final Fantasy", or Fainaru Fantaji, as it were. I doubt the meaning of the word "Final" was fully understood, or it probably would have been Ultimate Fantasy (something like that).
Square was actually pretty successful early on with their Rad Racer games, and King's Knight, though people make fun of it, did pretty well in Japan also.
The "Final" in Final Fantasy does not refer to it being Square's last game. It was chosen because the alliteration sounded cool, plain and simple. Rad Racer, double 'r's; King's Knight, double 'k's (yeah, I know, kn != k, shut up); Final Fantasy, double 'f's.
Japan has never been known for making the most sensical of video game names. This is just more Engrish.
Mostly a science fiction writer. You're probably heard of I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream. That's his; it's not bad, but he's done a lot of more impressive stuff.
Here is an audio recording of one of his short stories, Paladin of the Lost Hour. From his official website. You should listen to it. It's really quite good.
Re:Hannibal as Hollow Man *SPOILER*
on
Hannibal's Return
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· Score: 1
I agree, both of those things seemed really tacky. I haven't read the book, but there must have been some better way to handle that. Talk about almost ruining one of the coolest characters we've ever seen. I guess, though, that's to be expected from a movie/book focusing totally on him. It's hard to do that right.
My biggest issue with the movie was how Hannibal was sometimes portrayed as some kind of demi-god.
<slight spoilers>
Two cases come to mind; first, after murdering the italian cop, Hannibal is able to sneak up behind the hired killer and kill him with a knife. One, the guy's got a gun, two, he's trained to kill people, three, hannibal is an old man. And then he's able to silently escape in the two seconds it takes for the other guy to enter the room.
Next, the part back in the states where Hannibal is having a phone-off with Clarice at the fare. He always evades her view, even going so far as to touch her and still not get seen. Again, One, Clarice is an FBI agent, Two, she's a very good agent, Three, Hannibal is an old man. </slight sploilers>
The reason Hannibal was so dangerous was not because he was invisible, but because he was so much more intelligent than you. Man, Ridley Scott really should have done this right.
If you want to have a standardised test, you've got to draw the line somewhere; there's only so much you can fit in a year. As for changing the math program, that sucks, but it's probably a good idea. The year before I graduated calculus was knocked out of the provincial math program. Since almost all universities outside of BC assume some knowledge there, my first year of university in Ontario was total catch-up. It would definitely be a good idea to put calculus back in. If it screws everyone in grade 9 up, too bad, but it's for their own good.
The general North American movie-going public is going to eat up this thing like PEZ (that is, assuming they like pez). Your reservations are unwarranted; this thing is going to be huge. It is going to be MASSIVE. This will be (Toy Story + Matrix)2, and then some. As long as it is released far enough away from Episode 2 and Fellowship of the Ring, it'll be the defining movie of a new genre.
I know as little about this movie as the next guy, but I do know Square's track record. They make quality products and make quality money.
I dunno. There was never really any *necessary* skills. I mean, who really played seriously as a bard, a dancer, an alchemist, or a beserker (or half of the other classes)? To me, they were pretty much just fluff. I still took the time to master them, but only because I'm hardcore (ie. bored).
When it comes to final fantasy VI, I have to agree with you. The second half was pretty easy. There was never really any direction, and that's pretty important in a FF-style game. But the first half was great; not particularily hard, but really interesting. However, it was the last game to advance the series and still stay final fantasy-ish. Final Fantasy VII went over the top, and VIII is lost in the clouds.
It seems there's a progression in Final Fantasy, starting from I (hard) to II (really hard) to III-VII (progressively easy). Square tried to put a stop to it with VIII, where the enemies increased in level as you did, but I was disappointed with it. One of the joys of any RPG is being able to level up to insanity and breeze through the game.
actually, I think that the hyper melee was one of the only high points of star control 3, when not in the isometric view anyways. There was a falling out between Toys for Bob (the creators of star control 1&2) and Acclaim after star control 2, and thus the third was done mostly by Acclaim (through Legend, if I remember correctly). The story wasn't by the original authors, but I think it maintained the intrigue and humour of the originals. Truly, though, it was a bad game.
Hopefully we'll see a 180 with Final Fantasy IX. The news from Japan is that it follows the old games (I - V (debateably VI)) much more than the last two in both setting and playability.
As for Star Control 2, that's as classic as classic gets. I played through it for like the fourth time a couple months ago. Truly revolutionary in terms of music and story, and just plain originality. The sequel, which still had a neat story, was overall unexceptional and solved too many of the mysteries from the previous. Chances are we'll never see another Star Control. In a way that's a good thing; it's better to quit while your ahead than drag something through the dirt.
I disagree. The occupation system (which was also used in FFIIj) made all the characters the same. Any character could switch from a mage to a fighter, like that. As a series, the Final Fantasy games have focused more on characters than anything else, and allowing the characters to change class at any time really cut down on that kind of development. Once you've taken the time to master every job for every character (which any respectable FF player would do), they're all the same.
I prefer Final Fantasy IV. Every character was distinct; they had a class that matched up pretty well with their personality. Final Fantasy VI was better than V, but it was the first game in the series to give all characters magic capability, which I think really screws things up. In VII and VIII, the only things that differentiates one character from another are the limit breaks. Any character can use any skill, depending on what Materia or Guardian Force they've junctioned.
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unlikely, as that's five orders of magnitude greater. I would expect something more in the 4.66*10^90 Ghz range.
Anyway, just because something sounds romantic doesn't mean it's true.
Well, even in Japan it's called "Final Fantasy", or Fainaru Fantaji, as it were. I doubt the meaning of the word "Final" was fully understood, or it probably would have been Ultimate Fantasy (something like that).
The "Final" in Final Fantasy does not refer to it being Square's last game. It was chosen because the alliteration sounded cool, plain and simple. Rad Racer, double 'r's; King's Knight, double 'k's (yeah, I know, kn != k, shut up); Final Fantasy, double 'f's.
Japan has never been known for making the most sensical of video game names. This is just more Engrish.
Here is an audio recording of one of his short stories, Paladin of the Lost Hour. From his official website. You should listen to it. It's really quite good.
I agree, both of those things seemed really tacky. I haven't read the book, but there must have been some better way to handle that. Talk about almost ruining one of the coolest characters we've ever seen. I guess, though, that's to be expected from a movie/book focusing totally on him. It's hard to do that right.
<slight spoilers>
Two cases come to mind; first, after murdering the italian cop, Hannibal is able to sneak up behind the hired killer and kill him with a knife. One, the guy's got a gun, two, he's trained to kill people, three, hannibal is an old man. And then he's able to silently escape in the two seconds it takes for the other guy to enter the room.
Next, the part back in the states where Hannibal is having a phone-off with Clarice at the fare. He always evades her view, even going so far as to touch her and still not get seen. Again, One, Clarice is an FBI agent, Two, she's a very good agent, Three, Hannibal is an old man.
</slight sploilers>
The reason Hannibal was so dangerous was not because he was invisible, but because he was so much more intelligent than you. Man, Ridley Scott really should have done this right.
If you want to have a standardised test, you've got to draw the line somewhere; there's only so much you can fit in a year. As for changing the math program, that sucks, but it's probably a good idea. The year before I graduated calculus was knocked out of the provincial math program. Since almost all universities outside of BC assume some knowledge there, my first year of university in Ontario was total catch-up. It would definitely be a good idea to put calculus back in. If it screws everyone in grade 9 up, too bad, but it's for their own good.
I know as little about this movie as the next guy, but I do know Square's track record. They make quality products and make quality money.
When it comes to final fantasy VI, I have to agree with you. The second half was pretty easy. There was never really any direction, and that's pretty important in a FF-style game. But the first half was great; not particularily hard, but really interesting. However, it was the last game to advance the series and still stay final fantasy-ish. Final Fantasy VII went over the top, and VIII is lost in the clouds.
It seems there's a progression in Final Fantasy, starting from I (hard) to II (really hard) to III-VII (progressively easy). Square tried to put a stop to it with VIII, where the enemies increased in level as you did, but I was disappointed with it. One of the joys of any RPG is being able to level up to insanity and breeze through the game.
actually, I think that the hyper melee was one of the only high points of star control 3, when not in the isometric view anyways. There was a falling out between Toys for Bob (the creators of star control 1&2) and Acclaim after star control 2, and thus the third was done mostly by Acclaim (through Legend, if I remember correctly). The story wasn't by the original authors, but I think it maintained the intrigue and humour of the originals. Truly, though, it was a bad game.
As for Star Control 2, that's as classic as classic gets. I played through it for like the fourth time a couple months ago. Truly revolutionary in terms of music and story, and just plain originality. The sequel, which still had a neat story, was overall unexceptional and solved too many of the mysteries from the previous. Chances are we'll never see another Star Control. In a way that's a good thing; it's better to quit while your ahead than drag something through the dirt.
I prefer Final Fantasy IV. Every character was distinct; they had a class that matched up pretty well with their personality. Final Fantasy VI was better than V, but it was the first game in the series to give all characters magic capability, which I think really screws things up. In VII and VIII, the only things that differentiates one character from another are the limit breaks. Any character can use any skill, depending on what Materia or Guardian Force they've junctioned.
To Sum up:
Good - I, II (sort-of), IV, VI
Bad (or different?) - II, V, VII, VIII