Month: November 2012

Final Fantasy Dimensions….let me get this straight

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

So I’ve been debating whether to pick up Final Fantasy III on my Kindle Fire HD or Final Fantasy Dimensions on my iPhone. Last night I was checking out Dimensions and the reviews in iTunes seriously annoyed me. The game is listed as free because you can download it and play the prologue for free and then purchase the other chapters as you progress (or all at once). Chapter 1 is $2.99, while chapters 2, 3 and 4 are $9.99 each ($33 purchased separately). There’s also the option to purchase the chapters as a set for $28.99.

Yet so many users have given the game a one star review simply because they feel it’s ‘false advertising’ or a ‘complete ripoff’ to spend $29 on a mobile game (some even fail horribly at math and claim it’s $40 somehow). Have any of these people never purchased a GameBoy game? A DS or PSP game? This is a full Final Fantasy game with every bit of quality as a full retail game, so why are people so surprised? What’s the deal? They want this game to be $0.99 like Angry Birds, but do they not get that this is not your typical phone based mobile game, but rather an all out video game experience?

Final Fantasy III (and the other ports) are $15.99 but these are older games ported to mobile devices. Dimensions is a brand new game, a brand new experience that is supposed to play like the older games (in other words it has a retro style).

The IGN review calls the price ‘fully justified’ and notes the game includes at least 40 hours of gameplay. When you consider console games such as Homefront offer less than 6 hours of gameplay for $60, I’d have to say this alone justifies the price.

What do you think? Have you played Dimensions? Is it worth $29? How about Final Fantasy III?

Sony streaming player fiasco

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

So this weekend I brought my Sony digital media player to my girlfriend’s house so that we could watch some movies (because who rents DVDs anymore, really?) However I forgot to throw the remote in my bag. No problem I thought, there’s an iPhone app that lets you control the device. I download the app and it tells me I need to turn the streaming player on first to set it up….Ok… The problem is, there is NO on/off button on the device at all. I’m not sure if Rokus and Apple TV devices are the same, but there is literally NO way to power on the device without the included remote.

I tried unplugging the device and plugging it back in which causes it to power on and display SONY on the TV, but it immediately goes into off / standby after it powers up. I tried pushing the reset button on the device which did the exact same thing as cycling the power.

I even bought a cheap universal remote thinking I could program it to turn on the Sony streaming player. False. None of the Sony codes would work with the device. Lastly I called Sony tech support only to be told that indeed there is no way to turn on the device without the remote, and I could order a new one for $45. Forty-five dollars? Are you kidding? The streaming player itself was $99, who would pay half that price for a new, cheap remote (pictured below). I asked them if there was a way to program a universal remote only to be told they can’t help me unless I have a Sony universal remote and I’d have to call Phillips to see if they could help.

What a mess… I find it hard to believe that the ONLY way to turn the device on is with a cheaply made $45 remote you can only get through Sony. Not cool. I think I’ll be selling this device and getting an Apple TV.