Lusipurr.com – Presenting the Sundry Opinions of Lusipurr and Friends

Good day, Lusi-sprites.

As some of you are likely aware, the Foxconn Technology Group has been in the news again this past week after the death of one of their employees after a 36-hour shift. Foxconn, for those who may not know, is the reason behind the “made in China” label on many of the products that we as gamers love and rely upon. The company assembles the iPhone OS products, the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. They are also responsible for many of the motherboards used by Dell and HP. The company has other contracts, too, but they are less relevant to this discussion.

Foxconn has had a negative reputation and poor public image for several years now, with allegations of employee abuse first surfacing in 2006. Employees were found to routinely work hours that far exceeded the guidelines of the Chinese government and Foxconn’s business partners. Employees also indicated to visiting journalists that they are not permitted to speak on the production floor, and are punished by being made to stand at attention for extended periods of time. The general public remained mostly oblivious to the situation at the company, until a rash of suicides among workers earlier this year brought the company and its shaky history of employee treatment to the foreground. All of this, again, has been compounded by the accidental death of an employee due to exhaustion a few days ago.

Although the facilities at Foxconn are certainly brighter, cleaner and more comfortable than the stereotypical images we conjure up when thinking about sweatshops, there are marked and important similarities. This has all caused me to wonder how the gaming community feels, now that we have been forcefully reminded about how some of our favourite products are created, and under what conditions. Will we feel the same anger and contempt that many people felt for the likes of Nike and Wal-Mart in the 1990s, when their sweatshop scandals broke? I seem to recall some vehement media campaigns and public boycotts. Will we spam Nintendo, Apple, Sony and Microsoft with letters and emails, asking them to contract the production of their goods to other, more humane factories? Will we gather at big, noisy media-attention-grabbing rallies to burn our consoles and cell phones? Or, will we shrug, remind each other that these employees chose this life and often complain that there is not enough overtime available at times?

Personally, I really do not know what, if anything, I intend to do. It is not like I can buy a more human rights-friendly Playstation. I also do not know if complaining to the corporations will help. Apple and Sony in particular have taken a great deal of heat over the years, much of it greatly unfounded, written by well-meaning consumers who were ill-educated in how much control the companies actually have over Foxconn. I have read so many nasty comments over the past few days, lambasting Apple for running a sweatshop, calling Sony out for supporting labor law violations, etc. The pleas of informed consumers imploring these mega-corporations to re-evaluate their partnerships and contracts can become lost amid the cesspool of ignorant bleating from the masses who cannot see past headlines like “Employee Dies at Apple Factory”.

All I really know is that I feel rather guilty having fun with my toys, knowing that someone worked insane hours in a lousy environment to put it together for me.

Hello, my lovelies.

Alas, this post will likely be lengthily-challenged (short is a naughty word in Ginialand). The site playthrough of FFX has destroyed my gaming bliss. Really, the game slithered out of my PS3, reacghed into my torso and proceeded to yank out my bliss, spit on it, throw it down, stomp on it before setting it on fire. Luckily my copy of Xenogears and the Mother 3 book thing-a-ma-jigger just arrived, which should cure what ails me. Unfortunately this is further motivation for me to hurry this post up and gtfo the internet. I was going to rant about MMOs, but Mr. Liles of all people beat me to it. He will receive his stabbings later.

So, let me flip this post around a bit. Have any of you ever been in a gaming funk? Have you ever lost the will or desire to play for more than a few minutes here or there? What is your cure for this? Is there a cure? Should we start holding annual fundraising telethons? I will gladly accept donations to help us find a cure for gaming burnout. To answer some of my own questions, I would have to say that nostalgia is my cure. I know, this is a huge shock to you guys. It is true, though. For example, in between FFX torture sessions, I have been playing Lufia 2 and I am going through one of my all-time favourite sidequests, the Ancient Cave. An hour or so of random dungeon-crawling there and I feel well enough to face the horrors of Spira again. I imagine that time spent away from a game or games in general can also cure – either cure us of our apathy towards games, or cure us of our game addictions, whichever.

Pardon me, all. I need to play some Xenogears. Hopefully after a few hours oggling Citan and Sigurd will make me strong enough to endure more of Tidus’ buffoonery.

Howdy ho, my lovelies.

While traditional JRPGs will always be nearest and dearest to my heart, the runner-up in the Ginia’s Favourite Passtime contest has to be simulation games. There is just something so completely zen and blissful about them, and their constant struggle for perfection and optimal efficiency. I actually find it very relaxing after a day at the office to load up a copy of Harvest Moon and then till, water and harvest my fields, gathering as much as I can before the day (turn) ends, without wasting anything. Every day, moving my little sprite down the rows of crops (laid out for maximum efficiency), harvesting and watering, trying to move with robot-like precision, not wanting to waste a second for fear of the day ending with some crops un-picked. It is so satisfying and even soothing to complete a successful simulated day, regardless of how tedious that day is. Perhaps even because of how tedious it is.

By now I imagine some of you are rolling your eyes and wondering how in the blooming hell that can be fun. Simulation games can be more work than a real job. As I said, though, there is something just …. so zen about them. I can almost switch my brain over to auto-pilot, when playing a simulation game that I know well and just bask in the glory of the order and perfection that I create, whether it be a bountiful crop, a neatly laid-out city, or an overflowing virtual bank account.

Even when playing games from other genres, I often find myself approaching them as if they were sims. In World of Warcraft I spent so much time and effort gathering valuables for sale and manipulating the economy that it was as if Harvest Moon and one of the Tycoon games got together and had a shiny little baby and I was playing that game instead. Perhaps I am just wired differently, because I realize on an intellectual level that it sounds boring and more than a little stupid to relax after work by pretending to do more work. Perhaps I have OCD and I just really enjoy perfection, and the gaming industry has been exploiting my people for decades with these games.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I am going to go plant some corn and tomatoes in an efficient grid pattern, then design a city with appropriate population and commercial balance.

Hello, my lovelies. This week I am hoping to open a discussion regarding game piracy. Arrr mateys, and all of that jazz.

I should preface this post by stating that I am not here to school anyone in the intricacies of copyright and fair use laws in our respective countries. I am not Lane. I do not eat chili, I am not a filthy gnome-loving Alliance, and none of you read my ramblings with the intention of learning anything. What I think you read this nonsense for, is to bask in the warm fuzzy glow of nostalgia, and perhaps be ranted at from time to time. That is the plan for today.

I will be upfront and honest. I am a pirate (Did you get that damn song stuck in your head? I hope so!. I have in my possession and play games that I have not paid for. I run various emulators on my PC, and have previously owned modified consoles, and played copied domestic and imported games. If that offends you, I am sorry. No, really. This is not me adhering to the Canadian stereotype of apologizing constantly ­ not this time, anyway. I realize that some people may find piracy morally or idealistically objectionable. That is primarily what I want to opine about today. Not the legalities, but the ethics. So, time to dive on into the cesspool.

One of the leading and perhaps most valid anti-piracy talking points is that if we do not pay for games, the publishers and developers do not earn profits. If they do not earn profits, they do not make any more games. Even when pirated games do earn a profit (they almost always do) their sales figures will be lower than they perhaps could be, and this can affect whether a series is continued, or whether other, similar games might be made. The general idea is, people should buy what they like, it rewards the artists behind the work, and encourages them to make more, similar items.

My personal counter to this point is that yes, if you can purchase a game legitimately, you should. Developers and publishers need our financial support in order to continue providing us with games. And as a fan of RPGs, for example, I want the corporate muckity-mucks to know that people want those games and are willing to pay for them. It does not matter how popular a game seems to be, not to them. What matters to them, and rightly so, is whether or not it is a smart business decision to continue developing/producing those games. However Šthere is a line I will cross.

Not all games are currently available for legitimate purchase from the developer, publisher, or any other party who is in a position to share revenue or sales numbers with them. I am talking, of course, about games that are out of production, and only available second hand, often for insane prices. Now, the idealist in me wants to believe that if there is a thriving market for used copies of a game, someone will take notice and reprint the game, or make the game available as a legitimate digital purchase. The realist in me, however, is pretty sure that there are much better ways to let them know what we want in our online stores. Ways that do not involve giving some schlub $200 for a used game. This is why I feel no remorse for emulating or ripping certain games. I would happily give the going rate for a console game to Konami for a copy of Suikoden 2 if they only had one to sell me. Likewise for the others games I pirate. They are all either out of production, or were never released in North America.

Of course there are other arguments for and against piracy. Is it really copyright infringement if you could not or would not pay for the game, and therefore it could be argued that the company really is not suffering any loss of potential revenue? Is it a slippery slope that we go down when we emulate or copy a game here or there? Is piracy comparable to lending your game to a buddy, or selling it for profit on the Amazon marketplace? Is the law the bottom line, regardless of circumstance? I would love to anmswer more of these questions, but I imagine this post is long enough already.

Cheers.

It is spring, which means a few things. I can wear my cute shoes again, the First of May is mere days away, and it is time for spring cleaning. As part of Cleaning Ginia’s Goddamn House 2010, I have spent a considerable amount of time re-assembling my scattered video game library. As I sorted through the various discs, manuals and cases, I found myself having an experience akin to flipping through a school yearbook or a photo album. Each game logo inspired flashes of memory, of people, places, seasons, foods, music. These seemingly random elements are forever bound and tied to these games for me, and I do not always know why.

I played Lufia 2 on an emulator in 1998, when I was supposed to be performing telemarketing duties from home for a local theatre company. Sorry about that, guys, but your plays really sucked. Thanks for the money. Now when I see or hear mention of Lufia 2, I immediately think about the overbearing sunshine and songs like “Summer Girls” and “All-Star” which were often playing in the background. I remember how I had my laptop setup on this hop chest, and I had to kneel down to play it, and how much that would hurt my knees after awhile. Still better than working, though.

Despite how many times I have played and re-played Final Fantasy IX, that game will forever conjure up memories of Christmas, of feeling sick, and eating M&Ms, because that is how I spent my Christmas holidays about 5 years ago. Final Fantasy Tactics, on the other hand, another game I have played often, is linked to Lusipurr’s old Caribbean blue bedroom and ramen noodles, no matter how much time I spend playing that game in my own pink and cream and definitely NOT blue room.

I played Final Fantasy X while recovering from a busted foot. That foot twinges with remembered pain as I write this. I remember that pain and the frustration and embarrassment of that injury before I think of the Sphere system, that dumb sports game, or the infamous “HA HA HA HA” scene.

Any Mario games makes me mentally flash to my mother’s old floor model tv and the ugly orange carpet I would sprawl out on while I played various SNES era Mario games.

Soul Calibur and Brendan are inextricably linked, as are Alex and Sonic games, and Michelle and LittleBigPlanet. Oh, and sushi. The first time I played LittleBigPlanet was also the first time I tasted Formosa’s sushi. Good times.

Games have always been a huge part of my life. They remain my primary hobby and therefore one of the key anchors for my memory. For others things like music, sports or food are their anchor. I could not tell you where I was in the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup back in the 90s. I forget what my graduation song was in 2000. I can tell you what I was eating when I finished Earthbound (Nerds and Fun Dip) and who was there when I finished the final stage of Super Mario Bros 3 (Anna). My only memory of the old hand-me-down TV I had when I first moved into this house is playing Final Fantasy VII on it.

I guess I just have my priorities in order.

Happy Sausages-With-Maple-Syrup Day, Lusipurrites.

I had intended to write a review of Aion or Legend of Dragoon, purely to spite Lusipurr. Then I remembered that he knows where I live, so I decided to write this rubbish instead. If you enjoy Aion or LoD, though, please feel free to spam the comments with your thoughts on those games!

Today we will discuss voice acting. Love it or hate it, it has become infinitely more prevalent in the past few years. It began as a novelty, the occasional battle shout, cues to “finish him!” and the like. If you were really lucky you might have a brief cut scene or still shot with a brief voice over. Now it is considered perfectly common to have a fully voice acted game, with hours of spoken dialogue.

Personally I enjoy the extreme use of voice acting. If, for example, I could only read the words: “Snake? SNAAAAAAKE!” … it just would not have the same effect, and a meme would not have been born. Sure, it can spoil the immersion factor when the acting is terrible (I am looking at you, Vanille. You too, Yuna), but to me it is worth the risk. The overall enjoyment and enhanced immersion I receive from good or even decent voice acting outweighs the irritation and distraction of poorly done or poorly casted acting. I will gladly play through a game like Grandia and perhaps turn the sound down a tad, if it means that games like Disgaea and Metal Gear continue to be made. Even Final Fantasy XIII falls into the group of games that are better for having been made in the era of fully narrated games, despite Vanille.

I imagine that most of you do agree, but if not, feel free to let me know that I am a raving lunatic. Cheers. Back to work I go.

Last week, if you recall (and you do, because you hang on my every word), I whinged about how game developers keep changing things, even within the same series. I stated the obvious truth, which is that if players enjoyed a concept or mechanic, it is acceptable to re-use it occasionally in sequels or even in different intellectual property. On a similar vein, then, the first part of this week’s post must be a resounding “THANK YOU!” to NIS for not taking a dump all over the Disgaea series. Honestly, if you were to look up “ur doin’ it rite” in the online lolz dictionary, there should just be a Disgaea logo there. From game to game they keep roughly the same game mechanics and general mood of the game which players enjoyed, and just add to them, flesh them out a bit more, tweak them ever so slightly. Enough changes to keep it interesting, but similar enough to keep me from ranting and raving.

Anyhoozle, Disgaea is not what I really wanted to write about today. At the risk of stepping on Lane’s toes, I actually wanted to discuss something that came up in the recent talent previews for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Before you all change the channel to another blog, no I am not going to analyze each class and talent. What I did want to prattle on about is Blizzard’s new (as of Wrath, and gathering steam into Cataclysm) philosophy of “bring the player, not the class”. What they are basically saying is there should not be a preference regarding which class your group uses for healing, tanking, or dealing damage. Everyone should be equally viable, thus leaving your group leader free to invite players based on skill and even personality. Sounds like a cool plan. If there is a choice, for example, between taking myself or Lane to DPS a raid, the raid should be able to take me, because I am awesome and adorable and sound hot over Vent. Blizzard does not want the raid leader to have to worry about whose class abilities and statistics make them a better option. What they have done, essentially, is give multiple classes the same abilities, just with different names, or slightly altered mechanics.

Too bad this does not work.

If a raid needs, say, Replenish (this means other players will regenerate lots of Mana, which makes your Mana users very happy), they can take a Ret Paladin, Survival Hunter, Shadow Priest, or Frost Mage. I can guarantee you, no raid leader worth his or her salt is taking the Frost Mage. Their damage just does not compare to the rest. Many would also not take the Paladin, because in general, ranged DPS = preferred DPS (because we are not slaves to a Boss’ positioning). So basically, Blizzard took the Shadow Priest’s one cool gimmick, gave it to all these other morons, and most of those morons will still not be invited to the raid, and in the meantime the Shadow Priest loses a lot of its specialness. Now they are doing this to Shamans, by giving Magies something that is essentially Bloodlust/Heroism. Way to take away the only reason you’d ever take an Enhancement Shammy with you.

The fact of the matter is, in any game where there are multiple classes that fill the same role, there will always be the best. Games will never be perfectly balanced. And those who strive to mix/max their experience will always take the player who is the optimal race/class/spec when given a choice. Taking away the little things that makes each class unique will only make it harder for people who find themself on the low end of the min/max scale. Soon there will be even less reason to take them along. And while the Mage’s new Time Warp of Stupidness ability is what prompted this, this is a concept that is definitely not WoW-exclusive.

Hello there, my dearest, darlingest Lusi-sprites.

It has been said that ³Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity – not a threat”. This quote is often misapplied to Albert Einstein (what quotes aren’t misapplied to Einstein on the internets?) but can actually be credited to Steve Jobs, and I am sure various other
executives and marketers throughout space and time. We are told to embrace change, to purchase the latest and greatest products. Our old beloveds are out of date and obsolete. Voices of dissent are accused of being old-fashioned or downright ‘fraidy cats, stuck in their ways and afraid of change.

Why, though? At least in respect to games and other media.

Allow me to preface this rant by stating that I would not wish to shackle
the creative soul. I do not think that innovation is a bad thing per se. I just vehemently oppose this notion that seems to permeate our culture about change being absolutely necessary all of the time.

The best and certainly most relevant example of this is Final Fantasy. I shall endeavour to inflict as little damage as possible upon this dead horse, as the game has been discussed here ad nauseam. It seems as if the more recent instalments in the series have striven to change everything. Heavens forbid the modern audience has to re-use a game mechanic they have already encountered. Each game must find a way to change the battle system, levelling/progression system, magic system, etc in addition to the more obvious changes that must be made to graphics, audio, and plot. But … why? Many of the older systems were very well-received by players. Would people really mind playing another Materia-based game, or another class-based game (like FF4)? As long as the story and characters are new, I think people would be happy. Happier than they seem to be with the “innovations” that have come out recently (re: FFX-XIII).

Let me digress for a moment. I like sandwiches. I like a good ol’ ham and swiss on white sandwich, perhaps with some chips. It is tasty, I know I will like it if I make it. I also like to fancy it up with gourmet bread, different cheeses, sauces, varieties of luncheon meats. Just because I enjoy the Tuscan chicken with red pepper sandwich they serve up the street, it does not mean that from time to time I do not crave a plain ol’ ham and swiss.

Right now, as much as I enjoy the Paradigm system, appreciate the customizability of the License system, etc etc, I really want to play a JRPG with job classes, turn-based menu combat, and traditional level-based progression. I also want a ham and swiss sandwich.

Is this so wrong? Is it wrong for me to wish that game developers would ease up ever so slightly on the innovation? Invest more in character and plot development, and re-use tried and tested game mechanics? With a little tweaking of course, but nothing approaching the massive overhauls we have seen lately.

This is not meant to be an FF-specific rant. In general, RPGs are becoming rarer, and those that come out are shying away from traditional elements, likely fearing that no one will be interested in something they have seen before. Has it not occurred to them that maybe gamers are craving an old, familiar style?

Maybe I am just crazy.

So, my beloved Lusi-sprites, it appears that I am back … sort of. I am still using the old, broken, piece-of-crapola laptop, but Lusipurr is a cruel tyrant very persuasive person, so here I am! This will be brief, and I do apologize. Next week I should be using the shiny new computer, with the working monitor and fully-functional keyboard.

This week I would like to open a discussion regarding pleasant surprises. Pleasant surprises in the world of gaming, to be precise. The wonder and joy of a long-awaited Ginia post does not count, your praise and flattery can be directed to [email protected] instead.

The primary catalyst for the discussion is Final Fantasy XIII, of course. My expectations for the game were so abysmally low that truly it really could not fail to surpass my expectations. An enjoyable battle system, likable characters, and an intriguing plot combine to make the game an unexpected pleasure. Other games, though, have risen above and beyond my bleak expectations. Xenogears is another example. That Christmas I had set my heart upon receiving Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete. I was heartbroken when it was delayed and I had to “settle” for a copy of Xenogears. I was miffed, sure that this goofy robot-filled game would never compare to the classic, epic, uber-traditional Lunar. I was correct, of course. It was better.

What about you folks? What games have you played and enjoyed much more than you had thought?

Ok, bye! Better post next week!

Hello, hello, my beloved Lusi-sprites. Not rain nor sleet nor exploded computer can stop my blog posts. I have nothing else to do after work while waiting for the bus adore our readers too much to go two whole weeks without a post. So here I am, and there you are!

One of the most enjoyable (for me) posts that I recall writing here was my editorial on the best games that you guys likely did not play. These were mostly obscure fan-translated J-RPGs. Today, though, I thought we could discuss the best games that I have not played, and hopefully you all will name and shame yourselves and confess to the epic titles that you have neglected. Admitting the problem is half of the battle, and the first step on the road to recovery. Hopefully by sharing our (previously) secret shame, we will all be inspired to play these games.

1. Dragon Age: Origins I simply have not gotten around to it, and I am very sorry. I have it, and someday when the computer fairy (the nice FedEx lady) delivers a new PC to me, perhaps I can play it. It is probably better than most of the dated classics that I tend to play.

2. StarCraft. I just lost a lot of nerd cred, huh? Yeah, I have not played what I am told is the quintessential RTS of all time, ever, for infinity and beyond.

3. Xenosaga. Considering that Xenogears is one of my favourite games in the history of gaming, it is a bit surprising that I have not played anything from this series. Now I do admit that partial blame for this can be laid upon all of the poor reviews the game has gotten, but still, as a Xeno fangirl, I really am obligated.

4. Doom, Quake, Halo, Unreal Tournament, etc, etc … every version and incarnation. These are boy games. I do not play boy games. I do not play games with guns and little targeting thingys, and voice overs declaring “head shot!”. Nope, I just do not.

5. Po-ke-mon! This is for Lusipurr. I have not, will not play it. Ever. Most gamers have, I believe, at least tried Pokemon. Not I, though! I do not care how many gazillion million copies of the games are sold. I do not care that it is such a phenomenon. In the immortal words of many a lolcat … “DO NOT WANT”.

So, fess up. Bare your soul. Admit to the gaping holes in your gamer resume.