In a world where your life is no longer your own…

Steve, Jon, Adam, and Erich, our Token American(patent pending) invite you to partake of our spirited discussion on the timely topic of internet privacy as it relates to Blizzards World of Warcraft and Starcraft II Internet Forums. Is it really that big of a thing that they’re making people use their real names?
But first, You must wander through the usual mire and muck of what we’ve been playing, what we’ve been buying but not playing, why Blast Processing has a restraining order against Mrs. Adam, what Erich thinks of OnLive and Alan Wake, Jon’s opinion of The Mega Man Zero Collection, and what awesome item Erich purchased last weekend! Hint: It is awesome!
We also celebrate the one and only holiday that’s all about Presidents who fly fighter planes and punching Aliens right in their stupid faces by waxing nostalgic about some of the great (and awful) games from Arcades past that have yet to appear in some form of home collection. There are also the usual offensive bits about female WoW players and Mac Gamers.

How do you feel about Blizzard’s new stance on anonymity? Did you read Jon’s Sin and Punishment review? Are you mad at Steve for his insensitive comments about women who play WoW? Why not let us know over in the DVD Verdict Jury Room forums, or by emailing at feedback@pixelverdict.com.

Opening Music: Celestial Hi-Fi by Sheavy
Closing Music: Into Town by Matt Uelman from “Diablo” by Blizzard Entertainment

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After a week off, Adam and Steve join Erich ready and raring to talk about Old West blockbuster Red Dead Redemption. The gang keeps the topical train rolling with discussions about spooky shooter Alan Wake, spy-themed RPG Alpha Protocol, and the intergalactic fun of Super Mario Galaxy 2.

What new game are you having the most fun with? Let us know in the comments below, over in the DVD Verdict Jury Room forums, or by emailing at feedback@pixelverdict.com.

You can listen to the show with the player below, download it here, or subscribe through iTunes or by adding our feed to your podcatcher of choice.

Dave, Jon, and Erich tackle such heady topics as Dave’s interview with Warwick Davis, buying (and selling) games at yard sales, and whether the “real” Street Fighter players are on the PS3. Games discussed include Red Dead Redemption, 3D Dot Games Heroes, Rocket Knight, and Puzzle Chronicles.

What do you think of Carl Winslow. Let us know in the comments below, over in the DVD Verdict Jury Room forums, or by emailing at feedback@pixelverdict.com.

You can listen to the show with the player below, download it here, or subscribe through iTunes or by adding our feed to your podcatcher of choice.

I have little else to offer here.  The subject line speaks for itself.  Ninjas in video games.

Also, I promise no mention of Ninja Gaiden, at least not from me…

Dave:  One of the first games that truly enamored me to the smacking around virtual enemies as a ninja was Revenge of Shinobi.  This, to me, still stands out as a great little side-scrolling action adventure, packed with cool set-pieces (the truck chase, the airplane fight) and ridiculous, copyright-infringing boss battles (Godzilla, Spider-man, Batman, the Terminator).

Thankfully, our hero has plenty of 16-bit methods of violence at his disposal–shuriken, swords, knives and, of course, his fiery dragon magic, always helpful in a pinch.

To all our American readers, happy Memorial Day! For at least half our staff, this is a day of remembrance and delicious barbecue, although I’m not sure what the two have to do with one another.

How will you all be spending your day? For most, this is a blissful day off work, and if you read our site, odds are you’ll be doing some gaming today. So what will you be gaming? Leave a comment below and let us know.

After the cash cow success of Street Fighter 2 getting the HD treatment, Capcom has been mum on which game will be getting the next treatment (though they have dropped hints that there will be next games). Based on chatter, a HD Remix is looking increasingly likely for Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and soon.

Fighting purists may snark on the elaborately over-the-top combat system, the 3-on-3 fights where 200-hit combos are not uncommon, and the complete and utter lack of canon uniting characters from all manner of video games and comic franchises into a battle royale, but so what? MVC2 is one of the main reasons why I hold the Dreamcast in such high regard. It’s a fantastic brawler, and a HD remix would be groin-grabbingly amazing.

Solid details are still forthcoming, but prying eyes have uncovered possible achievements appearing for the game, a hopeful sign of things to come. With a bit of luck, we’ll all be sitting around soon on XBLA having our butts handed to us by some fifteen year-old Korean kid, using Cable like a cheap bastard. Personally, I can’t wait. I’m masochistic like that.

(via Joystiq)

Welcome to Rare Antiquities, where we hope to shed a little light on some of those classic, hard-to-find gems that pull in huge buckeroos on sites like Amazon.com and Ebay. For our inaugural column we felt we should go with a title that’s become somewhat difficult to track down in recent years, and yet remains a powerful presence in gaming culture:

Final Fantasy VII is a game that needs little introduction. Squaresoft’s epic Role-playing game dropped in early 1997 in Japanese markets, and was already a multi-million selling blockbuster by the time North American retailers were breaking the September 7th street date to keep demanding fans appeased. 

Title: Final Fantasy VII
Release Date: Sept. 7th, 1997
Platform: Sony Playstation
Price Range: $60 to $100
Rarity: 2 (out of 5)

The Game: Final Fantasy VII tells the tale of Cloud Strife, once an operative in ‘Soldier’, a special forces group run by the Shinra corporation. Now a mercenary, he finds himself in the employ of the Avalanche resistance group, led by the charismatic Barrett. Their mission is to destroy the Shinra corporation, and halt their twisted experiments using a power called Mako. Cloud eventually meets Aeris, a simple flower merchant with a connection to an ancient race, Tifa, an old flame, and a colorful cast of supporting characters,and of course, the enigmatic Sephiroth makes his appearance, and launches his own campaign of destruction, becoming one of the most popular characters in video game history in the process. Over the course of 50 to 70 hours, you would uncover deep past histories for each character, discover two additional hidden characters, and would be given the opportunity to roam around what was, at the time, the most in depth and fully realized setting in RPG history. 

Barrett, one of the many colorful characters of FF7.

Technically, in 1997 there had never been another game quite like FF7. The pre-rendered backgrounds were lavish, and the 3D game characters were cleverly designed and fit well with past entries in the series. The real meat was found in the battle scenes, which featured large, well rendered polygonal characters and excellent effects, including some truly lavish cinematic attack sequences when players summoned creatures into battle. The sound was also top drawer, with a fantastic score by series stalwart Nobuo Uematsu that has produced some of the most cherished pieces of music found in this or any game. 

Combat was traditional Final Fantasy with a dynamic 3D twist!

Some would criticize the linearity of the plot, and in particular the obtuse final act, which turned everything on its head, but no one could fault FF7 for its landmark production design and the sheer level of artistry on display. The level of detail in the Blade-Runner meets Dungeons & Dragons city of Midgar spread to every corner of the game’s colossal world map. The translation wasn’t quite everything it could be, but it was light years beyond what had come before, with mature writing and subject matter that further legitimized it with older players. On top of that, Squaresoft had the guts to kill one of the major characters at the end of the first act, something that had happened in other games to be sure, but never in such grandiose and emotional fashion. Players were stunned by FF7′s movie-like plot, production (over 40 minutes of full motion video was present), and fantastic battle system. Final Fantasy would go on to spearhead the Sony Playstation brand, and would sell over 9.5 million copies worldwide before going out of print in 2005. FF7 was heralded at the time of release as quite possibly the greatest game ever made, and it still retains a 92% average rating on Gamerankings.com. Final Fantasy VII’s popularity hasn’t waned in the over 10 years since its release. Several spin-offs have appeared in the years since, most recently a prequel on Sony’s PSP (Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core), and a highly successful animated film which serves as a sequel (Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children). Fans of the series were also whipped into a frenzy when footage of the games opening sequence was recreated in 2005 to show off the capabilities of Sony’s upcoming Playstation 3. Rumors still persist that Sony’s machine may yet see a full blown re-make created with current generation technology,though nothing concrete has ever materialized on that front. 

Elaborate Summon spells were impressively cinematic, if not a little overlong.

Is it worth it?: Final Fantasy VII definitely deserves the legacy it has left in its wake. Today, the game has aged suprisingly well. If you can sit down and enjoy the SD-sprite based goodness of the classic Final Fantasy titles, or even the 3D Nintendo DS remakes of Final Fantasy III & IV, then you should have no problems whatsoever with VII. The game’s plot holds up incredibly well, and the presentation is still top notch. The lack of any voice acting can make some of the longer dialogue sequences drag on a little, and the character graphics when roaming around the vast world can be off-putting when you get up close, but these are relatively small nits to pick. The price however, is definitely high. There are millions of these games in circulation, and Amazon.com alone lists over 100 of them for sale at any given time through resellers. Ebay is also generally littered with approximately 90-100 copies at any given time. Demand has certainly driven the price up, and in spite of the sheer amount of copies in the used market, there doesn’t seem to be any kind of price drop in sight. The PS version comes in two varieties, the original “black banner” version, and the lime green colored “greatest hits” version. Expect to pay more for the black spine. If you want to find the PC version, expect to add an extra $50 or so to the price tag, in spite of that version being a bitch to run in anything post Windows ’98. In the end, I can’t whole heartedly recommend a purchase over $50, as i’m sure a game as monumental as Final Fantasy VII can’t stay buried for too long, and we will definitely see a re-release in some fashion (whether it’s in the PSN store as a download for the PSP/PS3, or as a remake, or in some kind of collection). On the other hand, to say the game isn’t worth the price being asked is definitely a flasehood, it’s worth twice that and then some. For a collector, or for RPG fans who’ve never played it, it is a must own. 

Final Fantasy 7's engimatic cast remain popular over a decade later.

Rare Antiquities exists to shine a light on those hard-to-get games of past and present. If you have a title you’d like us to highlight, drop us a line at feedback@pixelverdict.com

Images courtesy of Gamespot.com

Fallout 3 junkies rejoice! Bethesda has unleashed their latest offering of downloadable content for their multiple Game O’ The Year-winning post-apocalyptic opus. But wait!

Word is surfacing that “The Pitt” has been dumped from the Live service, plagued with errors and bugs. Bethesda and Microsoft are working on the problem, and a corrected version should appear on the marketplace shortly. 

For those not in the know: The Pitt takes the vault-dweller to post apocalyptic Pittsburgh, wherein you will encounter several factions vying for survival in the harsh steel-town. Bethesda promises less of a focus on action, and more of a thought-provoking quest line that involves dealing with a few groups. Also included is a giant mechanical axe. 

You'd have a bug problem too if ya lived in this shathole!