My backlog of mostly PS3 games has been building up quite rapidly.

Going back to my middle and high school years, I would only get money to buy a game when I got a report card with straight A’s. This resulted in me focusing on one game at a time until it was beaten, like Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht for the PS2 which I dropped over 80 hours into.

Now I have the opposite problem: enough money to buy any game I want, but no time to play them all. I keep purchasing new releases because they look interesting and I want to play them. However, I add it to the backlog pile and assume I’ll get around to it someday. Anyone else experience the same problem?

It doesn’t help that video games are horrible investments. The majority of them never increase in value, but instead plummet to the $20 or $30 mark within a few months. Of course, there are rare exceptions such as Suikoden II and Valkyrie Profile. This has prompted me to stop buying games on their release day and instead wait for the price drops.

A few games that I had to pick up right away were all the big titles such as Final Fantasy XIII and Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. Most of my gaming time in the recent years has been devoted to MMOs like World of Warcraft along with the new SC2. The online community aspect of these games paired with the ability to play with your friends makes them easy choices to start up when there’s free time.

So I guess the issue here isn’t about not having enough free time, but instead about which games are appealing enough to actually play. The video game market is oversaturated with new releases every month. Unless it’s a blockbuster title, a game has to be innovative and polished enough for me to even consider trying it out.

Most games just seem to be variations of other games in their genre. Plus, my gaming experiences has probably altered my mind to find games with similar and unoriginal concepts to be boring. At least Steam gives independent developers an easier way to bring their products onto the market, which I find are usually more innovative than the stuff from larger companies.

I’m still waiting for a full immersion virtual reality gaming system though.

Level-5 teams up with Studio Ghibli to bring us Ni no Kuni (The Another World), a jRPG in development for the Nintendo DS and PS3.

After Level-5′s somewhat disappointing White Knight Chronicles, I have high hopes for this game. From what I’ve seen so far, teaming up with Studio Ghibli has produced some impressive results.

Ni no Kuni PV (PS3)

The in-game graphics look amazing! It’s as if you’re playing through a Ghibli movie. Add on the fact that Joe Hisashi is behind the music, and what’s there not to like?

Maybe if this joint venture turns out to be a great success, we’ll see more game and anime studios working on projects together.

Since the release date in Japan for the PS3 version is some time in 2011, we probably won’t be seeing it for a while here in the US.

Image Source: Ni no Kuni Official Site

What can I say? There was a plethora of good games released this month.

• Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)
• Final Fantasy XIII Limited Edition Strategy Guide
• Final Fantasy XIII OST
  
• God of War III: Ultimate Edition (PS3)
  
• Battlefield Bad Company 2 (PC)

FFXIII is the shiniest gem out of all the March releases. Graphics are so amazing that it’s hard to tell the FMV sequences apart from the in-game graphics, and the combat system is innovative and actually gets fun deeper into the game. Some people might complain about the linear plot and endless sprawl of dungeon maps, but it’s really not that bad. I actually prefer the way the maps are structured and that there’s only one ending. Well, I’ll share my thoughts in an actual post focused on FFXIII later on.

Moving along, the FFXIII Limited Edition Strategy Guide is one out of a total of 210,000 printed. Mine is numbered 103,100 and worth every dollar I paid. As for the OST, I haven’t had a chance to listen to all of it yet, but what I heard so far was superb. Figure Haven will actually be carrying a few copies once I update the store with the new inventory we received. Square Enix decided to drop the price of the OST from $49.99 to $34.99 since they were pleased with FFXIII‘s reception in North America. We’ll probably offer it for $29.99 or something, but I digress.

Ah yes, the God of War III: Ultimate Edition. It naturally comes with the game, an art book, and a replica of Pandora’s Box. Basically you pay extra for a rather realistic-looking, but plastic box. I was surprised at the size and how it looks to be made of metal, but you realize it’s simply plastic once you touch it.

Then finally I got Bad Company 2 for the PC after reading great reviews about it and watching gameplay videos on Youtube. Fully destructible terrain? Sounds perfect to me.

Now I just need to find time for all this. FFXIII takes priority of course.

I don’t really do loot posts that often, but maybe I’ll get in the habit now. It’s titled Part 1 since I don’t know how much stuff I’ll be getting in the future. I’m somewhat impulsive when it comes to purchases.

Got White Knight Chronicles International Edition and Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (Blu-ray) in the mail today from Amazon. It has been a while since I’ve played a PS3 RPG.

Time to try it out!

The PS3 definitely feels like it has been lacking some good RPGs (Side note: Valkyria Chronicles was awesome), but this year’s lineup aims to remedy that. After patiently waiting for years, this game is finally coming out next week!

I preordered this along with the rest of these RPGs over at Amazon as usual. No tax along with Amazon Prime makes it all worthwhile.

Release Date: February 2, 2010

Amazon Product Link

Star Ocean: The Last Hope

I was disappointed when this was released only on the Xbox 360 since I’ve played all the previous Star Ocean games. Good thing it’s coming out for the PS3 on February 9th since it saves me from having to buy a 360.

Release Date: February 9, 2010

Amazon Product Link

Final Fantasy XIII

It’s the next game in the Final Fantasy franchise, what more do you need to know? Despite some gamers ranting about how the plot is too linear, I still highly anticipate FF13 due to its graphics and what will hopefully be entertaining gameplay.

Release Date: March 9, 2010

Amazon Product Link

Resonance of Fate

Known as End of Eternity in Japan, the name was probably changed for release in NA to Resonance of Fate due to copyright issues (I recall an Asimov novel named End of Eternity). Anyways, tri-Ace is the developer behind this game, and I look forward to what they have to offer if their previous work on the Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile series is any indication of what’s to come.

Release Date: May 31, 2010

Amazon Product Link

Image Source: Wikipedia

Yes, it’s finally here – for those of us that can understand Japanese. Final Fantasy XIII was released in Japan on the 17th of this month.

I was debating whether or not to order a copy from Play-Asia and play through the Japanese version, but I opted not to after watching a stream of the game. I didn’t want to miss out on the dialogue and plot, but too bad the North American version won’t include the Japanese voices.

The battle system looks like fun, with a lot of customization and paradigm shifts. Anyone here already playing the game?

March 9th couldn’t come any sooner.

Image Source: Wikipedia

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was released for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 just last Tuesday on 11/10.

I bought it for the PS3 and had the pleasure of recently beating the single player campaign.

Epic story, epic gameplay, epic graphics. The most amazing FPS game I’ve played to date.

My only complaint is that the campaign felt too short; I want more!

Be sure to get the console version if possible since I heard that the PC version doesn’t have dedicated server support for multiplayer.

Demon’s Souls for the PS3 is being released here in the United States tomorrow, October 6th!

Judging from the favorable reviews thus far, this PS3 exclusive has potential. I played it for a bit at Anime Expo this year, and it seemed to be decent. It’s an action RPG (think God of War, Devil May Cry, etc.) that’s supposed to be insanely difficult.

Trailer:

I’m currently thinking about getting the deluxe edition over at Amazon, but still debating whether I want to drop $70~ on it now or to wait until it gets cheaper later.

Image Source: Official Demon’s Souls Website

Star Ocean 4 is being released internationally for the PS3 on 2/10/2010. With Tales of Vesperia being ported to the PS3 as well, seems like I have fun RPG times ahead of me.

I was planning on buying an Xbox360 just to play Star Ocean 4, so this will save me some money. Hah! You Xbox360 owners are losing all your exclusives. Maybe Ace Combat 6 next? =P

News Source: Sankaku Complex

Image Source: pixiv

Final Fantasy 13 is coming out this year in Japan for the PS3 on December 17.

The game is a PS3 exclusive in Japan, but the same isn’t true for the international release. I’m curious as to how or why Sony lost the FF13 exclusive for international release. If it were exclusive, this game alone would considerably drive PS3 console sales up.

As further stated in the Sankaku Complex post, it has been suggested that the delayed 2010 international release could be in part due to the Xbox 360 port. It is fairly obvious that porting a game to another console takes time, but I thought the PS3 version was going to be released first anyways?

I’m definitely looking forward to this game and will get it on release day. Another related game that I’m even more anticipating is FF13 Versus; the dark setting seems more appealing to me. Too bad my Japanese skills are at newbie level or else I would be getting this game on December 17.

News Source: Sankaku Complex

Image Source: Safebooru