In console gaming, there is a legend known as the Third Console Curse. Most consoles are not successful enough to receive a follow-up. If they are, then a third console is still not guaranteed. It is a hard industry not only to break into, but sustain a market share in. Yet something happens with the third console every time. It fails to meet the company's initial goals. Maybe it still sells fine, maybe the console has a wonderful library of games. Even if that is the case, the company loses market share and is in a worse spot at the end of the console's life than they were going into it. It could be arrogance from success. It could be a lack of perspective from being too used to success. Maybe it's just rotten luck. But it's consistent.
Yesterday, Sony dropped a few bombs on the gaming world - first, they are discontinuing support of the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita stores by next year, at the latest, with support ending immediately in some areas. Second, they will cease production of physical games by January 2028 for all releases on PlayStation consoles, leaving only another year and half before you'll no longer be able to grab the latest games pressed to a disc.
My girlfriend and I am going on a short vacation to our old college in central New York this weekend. Among other things, I'll be looking to see if that arcade machine, Sky Shark, is still there in the pizza shop I used to go to. The odds aren't good after so much time. But anyway, I played a lot of games this mid-week-end that I have (I'm off wed/thurs regularly) trying to decide what to keep of my 90s game collection.
One of my favorite things about playing strategy/role playing games is the sense of satisfaction that comes from executing on a well-laid plan. The thrill of deftly maneuvering units into place for a swift and deadly strike after multiple turns of meticulous consideration is something that few games deliver. I love strategy/RPGs, and I was excited to tear into Valkyria Chronicles 4; a return to form of sorts for a series held in high regard by a rabid fanbase, and a franchise I have little experience with. Sadly, instead of tearing into this game because I couldn’t get enough, I will now need to tear into this bizarre title that not only doesn’t reward sound strategy but does everything in its power to undermine player agency.
Good morning Pixlpeeps! It is Monday and I haven’t been around last week. I was going to write up a Quick Hits but on Friday I had a dentist surprise dentist appointment. I was on a wait list and someone canceled so I got their spot. I have one more appointment like that, and a regular appointment later this week. Hopefully both happen this week. I really like my dentist and his staff but it feels like I’m becoming a regular and that’s a little odd especially there. Anyways more on that later, let’s get started with today’s combo Quick Hits/What I’m Playing blog.
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been over five years since I helped PixlBit ring in Final Fantasy’s 25th anniversary with an exhaustive retrospective series, but here we are. Even though I missed the actual 30th anniversary of my favorite game franchise, I couldn’t let that milestone pass without doing something to show my love for this epic saga. To that end, I submit to you, our dear readers, my ordered ranking of the fifteen main games in the series. Naturally, this excludes spinoffs like Final Fantasy Tactics and direct sequels like Lightning Returns, and this is very much my list and in no way is PixlBit’s definitive order. But hey, everyone loves a good list, right? Each game features a quick paragraph reprising some of the information from the FF Retrospective, and a more personal take on each entry. I hope you enjoy!
In December of 2017, a spokesperson for EA Games stated that gamers don’t like linear, story-based games as much as they used to. That was an odd comment to me, in a year full of well received single player games, including a sequel to 2014’s Wolfenstein: The New Order. Since I had missed the game back then, I thought this was a good time to finally check it out. Ten hours later, I am deeply pleased that I did.
Operation Intrude N313 and the destruction of the ultimate weapon, Metal Gear, has been accomplished!
I think it’s safe to say that the unveiling of the Xbox One a few years ago was one of the most tone-deaf, poorly received debuts of a video game console since, well, Sony commented that people would get a second job to afford their $599 PlayStation 3 all those years ago. Since then, Microsoft has been doing everything in its power to right those wrongs and bring their console up to the user base that the PS4 currently enjoys. This E3 continues that trend and, while there were very few surprises, the Microsoft press conference put the emphasis squarely on exclusive games and community.
I have always had a strong love for the Ratchet and Clank series ever since I first picked up A Crack in Time for my then new PlayStation 3. I fell in love with its creative weapons, excellent sense of humor, and charming world and soon proceeded to blast through the series, replaying most of the titles over and over. When I eventually got around to trying the original game, however, I was quite underwhelmed. It felt like an experiment, a game with a good idea of giving a platforming mascot weapons, yet none of the ideas really came together. The franchise did not really find its footing until the sequel Going Commando with the third title Up Your Arsenal perfecting the foundation and future titles merely adding extra tweaks and polish. So when I heard the first game was getting remade with the modern design choices the sequels provided, I was naturally excited.
Happy Friday! I want to start doing smaller blogs like this. My last blog was a monster one and it takes forever to put those together. Here are some pickups I recently got:
2015 was an interesting year for gaming, the year the 8th console generation started to push out the 7th gen, where almost every game was coming onto one of the newer consoles and last gen ports becoming fewer and farther between. Yet when looking at the games everyone else was voting for each year, we noticed something. The real best games released received very few, if any, awards from other outlets. So we at Pixlbit decided to give the actual best games to come out this year their own commendation! So if you missed any of these this year, be sure to check them out and see what you missed out on!
Hello Pixlfriends, I am still playing F.E.A.R on the playstation 3 and I'm really getting into the game pretty good. I am really enjoying it. But something in the game has made me mad! And I'm not going to just stand idle by and take it!
Just in time for anyone anticipating the new Rise of the Tomb Raider, here comes Backloggers Anonymous with one of Lara Croft's older adventures: Tomb Raider: Legend. Before her franchise was rebooted in 2013, it was rebooted in 2006 as Lara traveled around the world in search of artifacts. Join us as Casey laments for past days of the franchise, Blake trashes the 2013 reboot, and Jamie gets excited over grappling hooks!
Hello all, it's been a while since I sat down and wrote a blog. Just been super busy with work, trying to find a new vehicle I would like to buy and also house
shopping as well. And started dating a wonderful woman. I have been checking in on the site to keep up with news and reading blogs, I comment as much as I can. So with my very limited gaming time, here is what I have been up to:
Happy Tuesday Pixlbit. Today I thought I would go over the Playstation 3. I like my PS3, and even though I had problems with the original version, the second version I am using is a trooper. I think I got into the PS3 maybe a year or two after its release and I got to see it go from box that offered Linux, to no longer offering it, and to adding trophies. I wish I could say it was the first console I bought digital games for, but I think that goes to the PSP when I was buying Minis and DLC for Rockband. Anyways I do love this system, I still play it (I think I play it more than the PS4) and since GameStop is starting to blow out the games, the PS3 library might grow a lot more this year.