The Free2Play market is growing. No one in their right mind would deny that. However, growth does not dictate a take over in the MMO market. While the question of whether or not the F2P market is going to take over MMOs is valid, the F2P market won’t take over. It’ll just balance out the market.

Sure, companies either jumped over to the F2P market entirely or tested it out. Some games have tested out the ideas of endless trials as well. Some companies like Aeria Games started off with and stuck with the F2P formula with games like Last Chaos. Let’s face it. While the F2P method is promising, there are a lot of issues with it. Oddly enough there’s the same amount of issues with the standard subscription-based MMO methods as well. Still, some games have one method working better for them than the other method does.

Capcom‘s decisions as of late are ones that could lead to problems. However, save for the permanent save file for Resident Evil: Mercenaries 3D, which they fixed, some of the decisions aren’t exactly new things for the company. Historically they didn’t have much of an effect on Capcom’s success.

I’ve never owned a single Sony gaming product. And yet, the PS Vita may finally be the device that makes me send some money Sony’s way…for a PSP 3000. This isn’t because I think the PS Vita will be a bad system or because I’m one of those guys who enjoys playing with the last generation’s hardware. It’s because I’m getting tired of touching things. Specifically screens.

After long ride, the Sony vs. George Hotz case is over. The lawsuit was settled on March 31, 2011 with Hotz agreeing to a permanent injunction. All things considered, Hotz got off easy. Sony went to great lengths to wipe Hotz’s PS3 jailbreak instructions from the internet. Sony has the IP addresses of anyone (myself included) that visited Hotz’s website. Sony proved that it isn’t messing around when it comes to the PS3′s security. Now that this is behind us, I can lay into this case in a way that only a opinionated blogger can.

So I have a new game, Torchlight, a role-playing game (RPG) in the tradition of Diablo. I’ve been at it a few hours, made level 30, and still haven’t used a healing potion. The monsters, hordes of them, all die with one hit.

This is a perfectly good game, but I’m bored.

Have I turned into a gaming god without knowing it? It would seem so, since I’m playing at the ‘average’ skill level. I guess I could crank the difficulty up to hardcore, but why is the baseline so low…

I’ve had it.

I’ve had it with the smoke and mirrors, subtle hints and deception.

Just announce the next Legend of Zelda Wii game already!

It’s not that I‘m interested in it. I’m still playing my way through The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I’m sick of the teasing, hinting and constant reports on any trivial detail related to it…

Companies like to brag about good sales figures. When a new system – or new iteration of an existing system – is released on the market, companies want consumers to know how successful it is. It isn’t a bad idea, really. If people see a system or a console is a winner, then they’ll be more likely to jump on the bandwagon as well.

The thing is, we aren’t seeing that with Sony’s PSPgo.

The PSPgo debuted October 1, 2009. It’s been out for nearly two weeks and Sony has yet to start gloating about the system’s sales. There were no first two- or three-day sales figures reported. Sony hasn’t even released first-week sales figures. This leaves consumers to wonder whether or not the PSPgo is really doing all that well.

Most people don’t really think of the assorted games and applications available on Facebook as full fledged games. If anything, they’d probably be sorted into the casual game category, due to the fact that the graphics aren’t always stellar, you don’t have to make a serious time investment to play and they’re all browser vased adventures. And yet, if you take the time to get involved in some of Facebook’s most popular offerings, you’ll understand how these are not only real games, but also in many cases mini-massive multiplayer online games.

First, look at Farm Town, a farming simulation game available on Facebook. Over 11,948,800 people play Farm Town as of 12:37pm CST, July 14, 2009. The goal of this casual game is to create a successful farm. As you grow more crops, you earn experience which allows you to buy new buildings, purchase more crops, acquire new animals and have more gift options to send to friends.

But it doesn’t end there. Your Facebook friends who have also added the Farm Town game application to their profile can become your neighbors. You can visit their farms to help do odd jobs for them, like weeding or watering. Plus, players can also visit the Marketplace or Inn. At these locations you can interact with other players who are on at the same time as you…

Video games are designed to take players into an entirely new world. The goal of developers is to make this new environment identifiable, and to create an atmosphere where players can lose themselves in this virtual world and feel they’re a part of events taking place. An interesting mechanic that can be used to help players make a connection is to include some familiar aspects or tools from daily life into the game. Developers have been particularly successful in this endeavor when it comes to DS games.

When game developers choose to create a DS game in a manner where the DS a person is playing on is involved in the story, it can help break down reality’s boundaries. What if a game could really cause a person to die in a week? What if your DS could help you find your long lost father? Many times the scenarios presented by video games are totally unbelievable, but by including a familiar device, a story becomes more plausible.

Let’s look at Contact first. In this game you’re supposed to be helping an alien being, the Professor, and a boy he recruited named Terry, find the necessary components to repair his space ship. At the beginning of the game, the professor tells you that, while Terry is doing all the dirty work, you are using the DS device to control and guide his every move…

As I began playing Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles My Life as a Darklord, I was faced with an overwhelming sense of deja-vu. Not from the gameplay. No, the way the tower defense title is executed is quite original and refreshing. It was the characters.

The bratty, teenage girl with delusions of grandeur and the cute, unassuming monster minions seemed familiar somehow. After I finished the tutorial, it hit me. Mira and her tonberry servants seemed eerily similar to Etna and her prinny servants, from NIS’ Disgaea and Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? games…