This issue comes up so often, and I don't know why. It's obvious that switching to a simplified system that is by and large easier to use works. However, I've come to terms that the debate is not centered around two opposing rational ideas, but rather efficiency versus the status quo.

JRPGs tend to be linear, the only difference is that XIII did away with the awkward NPC "You can't pass through here yet" or "Maybe you should check out X place before coming here" messages we are all familiar with, which blocked you from deviating from the story but still made you feel as if you were exploring. The…

I've always wondered, do American/Western developers also keep a lot of good games as domestic only or are we better at localizing more of our context abroad.

I hated it. Koga always destroyed my team with it. Once, and I will never forget this, I finally beat him, but my Pikachu was poisoned and just before I reached Nurse Joy I blacked out. Nothing but rage.

I don't think I'm missing your point, which is that the mediums are similar and therefore if you blame one you have the blame them all. I disagree with that, the mediums are similar but are not the same, and the effects and role the consumer engages with the medium differs in such a way that we should not expect them…

I'm not trying to defend the discrimination of video games. At no point did I say we should ban them. All I have said is that the medium is different than other forms of art, where the user's role could reasonably have a different effect than other medium, and that its effect should be evaluated so that we know for…

I don't know. And that is why I am saying is that we should find out. I'm not a big fan of FPS, but I've killed many Flan in my Final Fantasy games and goodness knows I've killed my share of civilians in Just Cause 2. And if PETA is right I'm a pretty cruel person to the amount of Zubats I'm fainted. It could be that…

"Similar" is not the same as, well, "the same". The degree to which any particular medium might have an effect on a person depends on the medium. A player is not simply a casual observer, like they are when reading a poem or watching a movie, but an active participant in a game, in fact the active participant. A…

No, they don't, but the way the user/consumer engages with the medium differs, and could have a larger effect on a person than simply viewing something. While with movies the viewer is just an observer, in video games the user is an active participant, the game itself does not progress unless the user does something.…

I don't see why you have to blame them all, since their impact on the person might vary considerably, and it may be that one medium has a more powerful effect than the others. I agree that people tend to scapegoat the unfamiliar; however, if the unfamiliar really does have a critical impact on a person's mental state…

I agree, but you have to admit the argument that video games are a different medium and could potential have a different impact on a troubled person than say song or poem does warrant further research.

Here's something I've always wondered: why do Japanese developers bother with Western publishers? Is it not possible for Japan to develop an English version in Japan and publish there, charge us a premium import fee, and sell it oversees.

Not for a family, but for myself absolutely. I've been living in a studio for a while, and honestly I can't envision what I need more space for right now in my life. So if I could have something that is affordable in a good neighbor, and I get all that I need, then sure. I'll take it.

That's not true at not. It's a big misconception, that exist because it hinges on the impression that government is fundamentally sluggish and bureaucratic, which is certainly the case in some areas of government but is also true of many companies as well.

Fair point, but if company's like Sony and Microsoft didn't make these kinds of exclusive deals that allowed them to have a monopoly of a product, at least for a while, then perhaps nobody would get to enjoy them.

Well, Sony did fork over the money to the studio to actually develop the game, so it is understandable why they would seek to limit it to their console. But their contract with Sony is up, and I don't think they plan on signing another exclusive one again so who knows. Maybe their next game will be available on other…

Hmm. I'll use a different set of features from other games to resolve this dilemma. Lets say you start off the new cycle aware that you lost the time, you skills that you acquired are powered down because you are lvl. 1 with stats to match, which serves as an artificial way to keep the game challenging while not…

I disagree with the critique of XIII. That game more than the other FF games that I have played had a sense of urgency—FFXII was awful, at one point I forgot there was a war going on.

What if failure to complete the game is part of the game? The developers make it seem as if you will be playing multiple playthroughs of the game to get the full sense of it. And we know already that the XIII plays around with time travel and repeating certain events under different conditions.

30 hours of gameplay isn't actually that bad. It certainly will create a different kind of gameplay, as exploration probably won't be that prominent, unless it is connected to a quest. It is fitting in with the style of XIII in which the party only had 13 days to save the world and therefore did not have the option to…