Dark Mirage

@sonofman

Agreed. I LOATHE on screen controls, but that would have been way better than THIS. Even if they made it English, it would still look like crap.

This article hit me hard, but especially because I was recently playing Wizardry VII, Might and Magic, and Lands of Lore in DOSBox over the past few weeks.

I really wish someone would take these titles and reinvent them for modern consoles or handhelds... And by that I don't mean the absolutely HORRIBLE iOS game recently created for iTunes.

No one needs to modernize these games by way of making them dark and moody. I want the old craziness back... And I want the COLOR! My god. Games had so much more color back then. It's shame we've lost that sort of magic. All I want is someone to transplant the heart of those titles into a game with modern mechanics. Give me a great inventory, navigation system, mini-map, save anywhere functionality, and difficulty levels. I'll be happy.

@(Unverified)

Actually, Sonic CD works fairly well. I'm not sure what sorcery they employed to make the controls as fluid as they are, but it's not all that bad.

Don't get me wrong though. It's not ideal. But, for whatever reason, the touch controls on Sonic CD are fairly responsive. The other Sonic titles though... Not so much. I wonder sometimes how these guys are programming these things. You'd think the controls would be simple, but some people nail it and some don't.

There will never be a substitute for real buttons when it comes to platformers, but anyone buying Sonic CD shouldn't worry.

Looks like companies are still making money on the retail front... albeit, less and less every year.

It's pretty amazing how fast the market for console games is shrinking and how fast the mobile space is growing. I still say it's only a matter of time before that thing you carry in your hand will be your console... Everyone will just have to buy Bluetooth controllers for their quad core cellphones with HDMI out.

@Faceless Troll

I totally agree they rushed the second half, ruining what would have otherwise been a stellar game. But I think there's also a problem in the shear amount of content that didn't feel like it was going anywhere to begin with. Part of why there was so much to wrap up is because there was too much there to begin with. Xenogears went well beyond the scope of most singular RPGs. SE would have been better served cutting the game in half and releasing it in two parts. Instead, they tried to bull their way through in one go.

Hindsight's always 20/20, but it's a shame they didn't plan and execute Xenogears better than they did. Personally, I'd like to see them take another stab at it.

So basically, there is now even less reason to own a Windows Phone. Hooray.

It's great that MS is offering this service to all, but they took the one differentiating feature of their mobile service and turfed it. All they have now is achievements, which will never be enough as most cell owners wouldn't give a crap about that.

I've played Face Raiders and the ? block augmented reality title... Were those not good enough pack ins to demonstrate the system's capabilities?

Personally the 3DS was never my thing, and still isn't, but when I tinkered around with those I thought they were pretty damn cool.

I'm not feeling that as an issue. I'd be more inclined to believe it had to do with the exorbitant price and the overall lack of interest in 3D devices that did them in.

@Ovy

Underrated? It is, critically, the most highly reviewed Final fantasy title ever. Or rather it was until Final Fantasy 12 came out.

Personally I think it was the best one ever, period. And I totally agree it deserved way more word of mouth and recognition socially. Unfortunately, most peoples first JRPG experience was with FF7, so that's what most gamers flock to.

At least it trumped 7 in terms of critical reception though.

I played it day 1 and quit a week after purchasing and it was a serious let down. The Lego construction system was terrible, the chat system was the worst I have ever seen, and the combat was terrible. Mix that in with a serious lack of content and an insurmountable grind, and you have a failure on your hands.

Personally this comes as no big surprise.

I just want a modernized, Wizardry 7 remake...