Posted on 02 Jul 2010 by jpopulous

Hey guys and gals! Do you want FF14? Do you want it for PC and PS3? Do you want to have to upgrade your PC to play it? Wait what!?

That's right, FF14 has release dates at last! I say dates and not date because the PC version is due to be shipped September 2010 (22 collectors edition 30 for standard) and the PS3... March 2011.

Surely with all the development time that has gone into this they could ship both at the same time? If you ask me I think something has gone wrong with the PS3 development and they can't put the PC release back any further - something like that!

Now for the PC spec...

* Operating System: Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista 32-bit/64-bit SP2, or Windows 7 32-bit/64-bit.

* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.0GHz) or AMD Athlon X2 (2.0GHz)

* Memory: minimum 1GB for Windows XP and at least 2GB for Windows Vista and 7

* Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 series or ATI Radeon HD 2900 series and above.

* Internet connection: Broadband

* Screen Resolution: 1280 X 720 pixels or higher.

[Credit where credit is due]

I ran the benchmark and got a lowly score of 2300... I think I have a pretty decent PC (well above spec for all those) except I am running an NVidia GT8900, which let's be honest is not THAT old. So I may have to buy the game (collectors edition $74.99, standard $49.99) and a new graphics card. Well by September I'm sure graphics cards will be even lower priced for one that will run this game nicely.. I hope! hehe.

The game will be a month-by-month payment with the first month free. The fee per month is $12.99 but I'm sure that this will not be the accurate converted rate of £8.60 a month but more like £13 a month... I hate that.

Still it's around what I shelled out for FFXI and I think it's within my monthly budget.

What do you think of this news then?

More Credit

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Posted on 02 Jul 2010 by jpopulous

Well, is this the mother of all unnecessary creations? A mouse with 18 buttons!!

You can look at the press release here!

While I love my gaming mice, especially when they look as good as this one, I question the price that it is going for and the audience it is hitting (who requested an 18 button mouse?). How will you even be able to get used to it?

Hmm... thoughts?

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Posted on 22 Jun 2010 by jpopulous

Well, I am still working on this as and when I can! I have basic audio integration, sprites on screen and also inputs (sprites and sound react to inputs).

I am starting to put the physics in now, using Box2D. Here is a basic screenshot =D!

Hopefully i can have some sort of demo soon =)!

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Posted on 22 Jun 2010 by jpopulous

Square Enix have announced that the Beta testing for FF14 will begin before the end of July (well they actually said 'ideally'). They also announced that all Alpha testers would be moved over to the Beta testing stage (if they so desire) and more testers could be drafted in! There's hope for us yet!

Here is a long video of gameplay from E3. Credit to MMOSite

Besides this Hiromichi Tanaka let us in on a few game changes from FF11, such as NPCs who you can hire out to bazaar goods when you're not online. I will keep you up to date as I find stuff out myself =).

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Posted on 21 Jun 2010 by jpopulous

Well, this is a lot later than I had originally planned but better late than never eh?

The big theme of this conference was 3D, exclusives and move - oh and swipes at Microsoft's Kinect hehe! Sony are really pushing 3D and over 20 games will be 3D ready to play by Mar 2011.

The most notable releases probably being Killzone 3 (Feb 2011) and Gran Turismo 5 (finally another release date, Nov 2010). The 3D games however, will require the use of 3D glasses (to use with their new 3D TV range of course) which I strongly question - will that really catch on?

Playstation move, Sony's answer to the Wii mote will ship Sep15 in Europe...

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Posted on 17 Jun 2010 by jpopulous

Hey peeps, this may be a day or two old now but that does not mean I am not as excited to share the news with you!

At E3 2010 SquareEnix showed us the latest FF14 trailer, see below:

More great news, SE have now also released a new benchmark so you can test your system out. The game provides quite a large insight into this new world! It's definitely worth a download even if you are certain your PC will run the game! You can get it here

Also a large amount of screenshots have been taken and uploaded to the ZAM FF14 website and you can view them all here.

Thoughts?

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Posted on 17 Jun 2010 by jpopulous

Another E3 announcement I am doing separate from conferences just because this one is awesome enough to be on its own!

Yep, Donkey Kong Country is returning in its 2D-ish form. From what I have read so far on the Internet, the game will be very similar to its SNES predecessor; which is good news!

The graphics have obviously got a boost and the music seems to be the same style (although not a lot to judge that from at this time). The only real change will come from the wii-mote itself, which will no doubt take some part in the actions our furry friends will act out.

The game is also multilayer, not dissimilar to the New Super Mario Bros. approach (or so I have read). The game is going to be released some time this Autumn.

Excited? I am.

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