[The following is a message stream I (Robert) had with my friends George, Corey, and Jace. I figured it contained enough interesting points made by myself to share with you all here. Chat-based blog posts can be interesting reads too, eh?]
George:
Are they seriously remaking wind waker for the Wii U
Corey:
...LOLWUT EDVREWGBREHREAFGBGTRW HAPPY DAY.
George:
I heard rumor of that I'm waiting to either Robert or Richard confirms it
Robert:
You were waiting for me to confirm it? Dood, every gaming site on the web is going crazy about it, of course it's true. XD
George:
I didn't know for sure
Robert:
It looks amazing too, but I already played through Wind Waker several times (GameCube, Wii via GameCube backwards compatibility, and even once recently in pseudo-HD via Dolphin), so I'll be skipping this release for the time being. Honestly, I'm MUCH more excited for the new entry in the Xenogears/Xenosaga/Xenoblade franchise coming out on the Wii U.
Robert:
Man...I'm actually somewhat excited for the Wii U now. It just needs a few more "must-have" titles for me, and I'll totally get one. As it stands though, there's still not enough there to warrant purchasing the system just yet. But I have a feeling that I'll definitely be buying a Wii U in 2014.
Robert:
http://www.polygon.com/2013/1/23/3907060/xenoblade-chronicles-sequel-wii-u-monolith-soft Look at this. It's incredible.
George:
What happened to majoras mask
Robert:
Majora's Mask is still slated to be released on the 3DS like Ocarina of Time was, but not until an original Zelda 3DS game first; I believe Miyamoto confirmed this himself.
George:
Ok
Robert:
There's something in that trailer that makes me think there MIGHT be multiplayer of some sort in the next 'Xeno'game. Huh...I hope they don't focus too much on that, because these games excel most at singleplayer immersion, and I wouldn't want their attention diverted too much to the multiplayer side of things. Still, multiplayer would be kind of neat...I wonder how it would work.
George:
Everybody is trying to make there games multiplayer nowadays
Robert:
I know. Thankfully, some developers still understand the importance of a great singleplayer experience. Don't get me wrong, I love some multiplayer games, but singleplayer is still where I spend most of my gaming time, and I don't like it when they take resources that otherwise would've been spent to make the singleplayer a better experience and drop it all into multiplayer, as if that will somehow make their game "better" in the eyes of the global audience. That might work for First Person Shooter games and other highly competitive games, but for an RPG, singleplayer has always been the most important aspect. RPGs are about immersing a player in a world and telling a grand story in that world. Trying to shoe-horn multiplayer into a beautiful thing like that will only make the game worse in the eyes of the RPG faithful.
Robert:
The only RPGs that can get away with this are games like Monster Hunter and Ragnarok Odyssey -- games whose core is built around cooperative play between friends. And notice that such games rarely have much in the way of plot. There's a reason for that.
George:
I actually despise competitive gaming
Robert:
Huh. I like it in moderation. I feel sad for people who do nothing BUT competitive gaming though. I find that cooperative gaming offers the most fun to me; lounging with friends, playing a game like Ragnarok Odyssey on our Vitas, helping each other bring down massive behemoths...it's a good feeling. Of course, that's just me. If someone gets the same kind of enjoyment from hyper-competitive play, who am I to judge?
George:
That's what I mean though it gets annoying when its always about competition
Robert:
But what about games like BlazBlue and Mario Kart? Fighting games and racing games are all about the competition to me, and those are great fun too. It's just when playing with random strangers online who get WAY too aggressive that tends to grate on my nerves. XD Play those same games with friends though, and that problem is alleviated. All in good fun. :)
George:
Those are fun it just annoys me when people act like there life depends on them winning
Robert:
Haha! Yeah, seriously. The only time people have a right to act like that is when they're professional esports players in tournaments, where their livelihoods DO depend on winning (by "professionals," I'm referring to those who make their living from the money generated by the esports industry). Otherwise, they're just acting completely immature and need to settle down a bit. I play games to have fun, as most people do. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, but I always try to have a good time. If you're not having fun playing a game, then why bother playing a game in the first place, am I right?
George:
Yes! Some games try to focus way too much on competitive gaming and as a result market on the fact people act there life depends on winning.
Jace:
Yeah competitive gaming is getting too crazy.
Jace:
And Robert the Xeno series of games is pretty awesome.
Robert:
Heck yeah it is! I still have Xenosaga Episodes I, II, and III for PS2 sitting right next to my complete .hack// collection of PS2 games. :B
Thought I'd play with Cleverbot for a few minutes this morning. These are the results. ("User" are my inputs; "Cleverbot" are the outputs of the "A.I.")
Cleverbot:
Why don't you like jerry?
User:
Because Tom is better.
Cleverbot:
No, dogs are better.
User:
Cats are better.
Cleverbot:
No dogs are better. Dogs rule. Cats droul.
User:
MICE ARE BETTER.
Cleverbot:
Mice are not people.
User:
They are mice.
Cleverbot:
Are you real?
User:
People are mice. I am as real as everything.
Cleverbot:
I think the Queen is an alien...
User:
I think YOU are an alien.
Cleverbot:
I think that you don't want to answer my question.
User:
I don't. Good deduction.
Cleverbot:
I like your style.
User:
I like your feet.
Cleverbot:
Thank you!
User:
No prob.
Cleverbot:
What's your favourite colour?
User:
You spelled "favorite" and "color" wrong.
Cleverbot:
I am from the Uk, that is the proper spelling.
