-
Why Final Fantasy 7 is (still) unstoppable 25 years since its release, the cultural phenomenon is still generating headlines.
Search “Final Fantasy 7” on YouTube and some of the titles coming back at you read “The Life Changing Impact of Final Fantasy VII,” “What Made Final Fantasy 7 A BIG DEAL?” and “Why FFVII Is So Important To So Many People” – and videos along this theme have hundreds of thousands of views. There is no denying the impact of FF7 on its fans. And, in fact, 25 years since its release, the original PlayStation and Square masterpiece is still generating headlines. There is no denying that the game has also made a cultural impact. Apart from the multiple spin-off gaming appearances, movies, remakes and merchandise, the story of…
You May Also Like
The ultimate history of fighting games Fighting games have always been around. The first one on this list landed in arcades in 1976!
Former jewel thief reviews GTA 5’s jewelry heists A former jewel thief has taken Grand Theft Auto 5’s heists to task, and explains how he would have done it instead.
The lost Call of Duty mode worth saving from extinction 50,000 people used to play here. Now it's a ghost town.
-
The heartbreaking story of how one man spent $16k on Final Fantasy and nearly lost his family Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius' combining of characters that people love with gacha-esque monetization can end up going very badly.
Everyone knows that Square Enix’s favorite activity is milking Final Fantasy. And fair enough, the fans love it too — for the most part. Personally I find the ‘extended universe’ of Final Fantasy a bit of a turn-off, and I suspect others do too, which is why Square Enix increasingly focuses on bringing its most iconic characters into any new title – such as the announcement, a few days ago, of Cloud coming to Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. Good old nostalgia, eh? Thing is, when you combine characters that people love with a gacha-esque monetization model, which is what Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius does, it can end up going very…
You May Also Like
The people obsessed with uncovering gaming’s deepest, darkest secrets For some, playing a video game to completion isn’t enough. They want to reveal the secrets behind its creation.
How ‘Untitled Goose Game’ went from meme sensation to real game House House partner Stuart Gillespie-Cook went into the company’s Slack channel in August of 2016, posted a picture of a goose and wrote “Let’s make a game about this.”
The bittersweet (and sour) search for Chinese representation in games Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan may be symbols of pride for Chinese people, but you don't quite feel that when passing idiots shout their name at you.
-
Year in Review: 2016’s biggest freakouts over video games A shortlist of all the video games moral crusaders lost their minds over in 2016.
From sexy clothing to political references, no video game is without sin when you’re on an eternal search for content to be outraged by. The moral crusaders, who embed themselves firmly within the games press, blast their outrage to millions in the form of “hot takes” across social media and video game publications. Here are some of the many things they lost their minds over in 2016. Tracer’s Pose in Overwatch Given that Overwatch has one of the most diverse casts in any game, you’d think social justice warriors would love it. They do, to the extent that people who shoot at health packs can enjoy a video game – but…
You May Also Like
The real reason LEGO Universe shut down: it didn’t anticipate the ‘penis cost’ The challenge of keeping a family-friendly MMO penis-free was too much for Warner Brothers.
“Taiwan #1!” AngryPug hilariously trolls Chinese H1Z1 cheater "Japan number two, China number four!"
It’s alive! How the last decade of horror cinema is influencing indie games The cinematic genre's margins are violently expanding and contracting, and videogames are learning from the best examples.
-
The only way to save Final Fantasy was to change it: talking FF with XV’s Hajime Tabata Final Fantasy XV’s director Hajime Tabata talks about his approach to the series, the necessity of change, and reading the comments.
Final Fantasy is in the midst of a comeback… though of course one shouldn’t call it that. Final Fantasy XIII sold millions and Square-Enix has been doing gangbusters with its various mobile and handheld releases (and re-re-re-releases), but the series’ reputation took a steep dive after XIII and the original version of XIV left fans disappointed. Since then, Square-Enix has taken a rather odd decision for a studio of its size and pedigree and changed things up, making cuts and moving the people around in order to restore the name of Final Fantasy. The key moment when everyone realized Square-Enix was listening to people came back in 2010, when Naoki…
You May Also Like
Study shows gamers are better in bed Are you a gamer? Then you might also be a player between the sheets, according to science.
The state of health Nobody wants to die. But were games more fun when we still could?
The birth of the horror game genre Was true horror present in the 16-bit era? 8-bit? Or in the words of an ancient text adventure? We’ve decided to take a look back.
-
Sitting down with World of Final Fantasy director Hiroki Chiba We sit down with the man behind the gorgeous-looking Final Fantasy monster collecting game.
At E3, Square Enix unveiled World of Final Fantasy, a monster-collection RPG based on the Final Fantasy series. As a huge fan of Final Fantasy, this is a game I’ve been dreaming of for a long time, and I’m honestly quite surprised it hasn’t happened before now. With the outrageous popularity of games like Pokémon and Yo-Kai Watch, and Final Fantasy’s impressive roster of recognizable critters, it seemed inevitable. I had a chance to sit down with Hiroki Chiba, the director of World of Final Fantasy. Previously, Chiba held scenario writer and event planner roles on the likes of Final Fantasy Type-0, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, and Final…
You May Also Like
The heartbreaking story of how one man spent $16k on Final Fantasy and nearly lost his family Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius' combining of characters that people love with gacha-esque monetization can end up going very badly.
Legendary Commodore 64 Daffy Duck game finally found, playable for first time It’s a 228KB download, which was huge for the time.
The psychology behind your backlog of unplayed games As games become ever cheaper and ever longer, we must necessarily accrue ever bigger piles of unplayed titles. Feel bad about it? Psychology can explain.
-
Square Enix’ shift to mobile gaming is good, actually Square is doubling down on what its doing right in a surprisingly self-aware move.
If you’re aware of the much-maligned Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, you most likely know that Square Enix’s console efforts have fallen far below the bar the company set for itself with its classics. However, if you’re an avid mobile gamer (or toilet gamer, which is basically the same thing), then you’ll know that Square seems to dominate the mobile gaming scene. Square Enix knows that too, and that’s why the company announced that it’s now shifting its main developmental focus from console games to mobile. Using the 2007 release of the original iPhone as a point of reference, Square Enix has been involved with the release of over 70 mobile games in North…
You May Also Like
The world of video game vinyl Down the video game record collection hole.
The real reason LEGO Universe shut down: it didn’t anticipate the ‘penis cost’ The challenge of keeping a family-friendly MMO penis-free was too much for Warner Brothers.
No Man’s Sky versus the actual universe: a scientific inquiry Time for some mind-blowing space facts.
-
Catacombs: the inside story of Square Enix’ canceled shooter It’s always a great shame when a game is cancelled, but much more so when a genuine original is lost.
It’s always a great shame when a game is cancelled, but much more so when a genuine original is lost. Catacombs, the Square Enix shooter that was revealed by Siliconera in April of this year, fell firmly into that category: its fast-paced, team-based shooting owed a debt to Valve’s Left 4 Dead, but its narrative was distinctive, dealing with themes of perception, existence, and social and cultural disharmony in an uncommonly bold manner. What began as a simple story of four treasure hunters exploring a mansion became something much more interesting. The Siliconera leak was satisfying for the man behind the transformation, narrative director Brandon Sheffield, who had worked on…
You May Also Like
These photographs make video game worlds look real The Continuous City is a book that looks at virtual environments through a different lens.
The 11 craziest video game feats ever captured on video These 11 videos show people taking ordinary video games and making them truly extraordinary.
The real reason LEGO Universe shut down: it didn’t anticipate the ‘penis cost’ The challenge of keeping a family-friendly MMO penis-free was too much for Warner Brothers.
