Online/Multiplayer

One of the first things that stands out about FFXI is that there's an actual story involved in the game. Granted, it's not a major story, and it's not essential to enjoying the title, but for those gamers who like a reason for their missions and quests, it's pretty decent.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Violence

Game Description: In Final Fantasy XI Online, the world of Vana'Diel stands at the brink of war. Three powerful nations, united in their plight against the beastmen forces, look to their last hope -- brave adventurers like you! Step into this world and journey forth on grand adventures with players from all across the globe. Final Fantasy XI is the first online game in the award-winning Final Fantasy series. Set out on your own to discover the countless secrets of Vana'diel, or form a party with your friends to purge the beastman forces and bring home sensational spoils. How you play is up to you -- the possibilities for adventure are limitless.

Game Description: Published by the creators of EverQuest and developed by the team behind Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath is an Action RPG like none other on the PlayStation 2. Create your own champion, each with unique powers, appearances and skills. Experience an epic adventure filled with powerful action and ominous intrigue. Battle vicious monsters where your mastery of weaponry and spells is the only thing between you and supreme evil. Champions of Norrath allows gamers to create their own unique hero to journey from the city of Faydwer into the wilds of Norrath to save the land from a gathering army of evil orcs and goblins. Players can adventure alone or with a band of up to three other players either over the Internet or on a single PlayStation 2 with a Multitap. Import player characters into friends' games using a memory card and then take them home to play solo-the play options offer console gamers the freedom to play anytime and from any location. Champions of Norrath offers players more than 100 hours of gameplay per player character, unlimited battles, deadly missions and unmatched character customization in an enthralling fantasy world.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood and Gore, Violence

Usually we identify good videogames by the time that we spend with them. After all, if we spend loads of time playing a game, then it follows that the game is quality, right? Right? I'm not so sure. Even if a game compels us to play it, that doesn't necessarily means that the game is compelling. Spending hours reading Harlequin romances or watching old Transformers episodes is hardly an indication that the media involved is noteworthy. The human mind is easily entrapped.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood, Violence

TimeSplitters 2 is one of those games that sounds good on paper—it's about time travel, so every level will be set in a different era!—but in actual practice the concept proves to be somewhat of a disappointment.

The tough question to answer is whether these ported titles are a "good" or "bad" thing. Pretty much all of these titles are still good games in the sense that what made them enjoyable at first remains enjoyable at a later date. But does the production of these games preclude production of new games and the possibility of creating new paradigms in games based in 2-dimensional graphics?

Thom and I are basically on the same wavelength about MechAssault, though I daresay I squeezed a little more enjoyment out of it than he did.