Author: blueZhift

Amazon.com made some waves, or maybe ruffled some feathers, when it announced that it was going to enter the used video games business. The Video Game Trade In Store allows gamers to mail in old games for credit towards games or other products available through the web retailer. The ruffled feathers came from GameStop, which has been in the  used game business for a long time now, having literally gotten it down to a science.

GameStop’s concern is understandable given that almost 50% of their profits come from the sale of used video games, according to their recent shareholders report. But I don’t think they have that much to worry about regarding Amazon just yet.

Because credit received for used games, in the form of a gift card, can be used to buy other things at Amazon, I think they probably see it as a way to increase sales across the board with a younger demographic that tends to have more disposable income. Used games could open the door to the same people who use Netflix and GameFly without a second thought. Either more business from customers who use Amazon regularly already, or new business from those who do not. But Amazon won’t be getting the gamers who want to trade and get new games the same day. Which group is larger remains to be seen, but I know that I generally don’t like to wait.

In tough economic times, customer loyalty is absolutely essential. Gift cards and store credit deals tend to keep people coming back whether online or off. Gamers are still spending money, so gaining their interest is a good move for Amazon whether they buy more games from Amazon or not. One way or another, the gift cards will be used, undoubtedly attracting a few new dollars in the process.

I’ve been looking for the Guitar Hero World Tour drum kit for the last couple of months without success. So when I finally saw them being stocked, I bought one right away. My youngest son was going to be our drummer to complete our band. But surprise surprise! My oldest daughter, who generally does not play video games with us, tried the drums last night and really enjoyed it!^^ Not only that, she’s a natural!

The drums are a lot harder to play than one might think, so it’s pretty cool that we’ve found our best drummer in the least likely person. We all took turns, so anyone who wants to play drums gets a chance. But I’m just thrilled that we now have a game that everyone in the family can play together.

Ever wanted to be engaged in an epic struggle with no hope for victory? Then tomorrow will be a good day to die in Tabula Rasa which is going out with a bang! No happpy ending, everyone dies in one last heroic battle. Damn! Now I wish I’d picked up this game just for the dark ending. A warrior’s death, perhaps not a bad way to die.

Yesterday I heard that the Tabula Rasa US servers were being merged only a few short days before the game is scheduled to shut down at the end of February. Not only that, the developers were adding all sorts of new content. WTF? The game’s about to shut down forever, why do that now?

Some have speculated that it was a departing gesture of good will. Or perhaps the game was being prepped for sale to someone else by NCsoft.  Lately I’ve been seeing so many free to play MMOs that I cannot help but wonder if perhaps Tabula Rasa will have a second life (pardon the pun) as a free to play game. I’ve been tempted to try these out, but where to start and where to get the time? And with so many of these games around, the crap ratio is probably pretty high. Tabula Rasa certainly had it’s share of flaws, but as a free to play game, I might just give it a look. Well, time will tell I guess.

After a 4 month hiatus, I reactivated my Final Fantasy XI characters and returned to Vana’diel. When you spend years building up a character, you get a little attached. So it felt good to be home! Not only that, there have been a lot of changes to the game will make it more fun for players like me who don’t really have the time for the traditional grind. 

Playing on my PC, Vana’diel was as beautiful as ever as I set out to explore my new, old world. The first thing I noticed was that the mobs weren’t as tough as they used to be. FFXI was originally a game in which solo players were doomed to lowby-hood. To advance you had to form parties. But as the game aged and World of Warcraft came along with its more solo friendly gameplay, getting a party became more and more difficult. FFXI has about 500K players, but heavily skewed towards higher level players by this time which leaves new and lower level players in a lurch.

Apparently the mob (ie monster) levels have been adjusted downward to allow faster solo leveling. Another new thing introduced was the Field Manual which is a book found in many areas containing training exercises that reward gil (money) and xp (experience points). This is like the quest system used so successfully in World of Warcraft. I spent a couple of hours doing one of these last night and earned more xp and gil in that time than I could have in 6 to 8 hours in the previous revision of the game! I still like partying, but just getting a party could take hours before because of level restrictions and needing the right mix of jobs.

While I haven’t experienced it for myself yet, the party system has also been opened up via the new level synch feature. This allows higher level players to level down to play with lower level players and everyone stills gets good xp. And rather than losing higher level weapons and having to reequip (a hassle), higher level weapons are scaled down to the lower level. I’ll have to find a party to try this out, which may not be too hard given the traffic I saw in the Valkurm Dunes last night.

So I’m pretty happy to be back in Vana’diel!