I am surprised by this move, but compared to the $5 billion purchase of King a few months ago, this is nothing. I can understand Activision Blizzard's want for an outlet to control their prospective eSport ventures, both from the Activision and Blizzard sides, but why MLG? I think it's no secret that MLG has basically become a big joke in recent years, not to mention its failing business and relevency as new eSport games are controlled by other companies. MLG basically only had broadcasting rights for a couple FPS tournaments and maybe WoW PVP Arena tournaments, right?
I only hope this isn't some misguided venture to re-establish Blizzard eSports. Starcraft is done, HotS doesn't seem to be hitting as an eSport, and WoW arena was never popular since it's just a clusterfuck to most viewers. Overwatch has potential, but I know little about FPS's, and while Hearthstone has tournaments, I think the casual playerbase is more important to that game than an eSports scene. We'll see, but short of Blizz holding DOTA International size tournaments (including the viewership), I doubt anything will restore Blizzard spot in the eSport spotlight.
Oh, and Austin, in the before-last paragraph, a sentence reads "At best, it makes an already questionable look worse." I think you wanted to say, "...an already questionable decision..."
@gerff_jestmann: fans were scared that, in an effort to more politically correct, Square might remove the cross-dressing, or remove the whole Don Corneo sub-plot altogether.
I think splitting the game up makes sense from a development view. Putting off all the end-game development until necessary on an RPG could work, especially if you consider the amount of content they're likely to have if they truly remake everything (and plan to add more, apparently). I just wonder what the drop-off will be between episodes. How many people will buy Episode 1, get their nostalgia fill of FF7 or realize they didn't like RPG's to begin with, then never buy another. I also dread how long it could take between episodes if they are actually splitting it to help reduce development time. An episode each year or half-year might not be unreasonable for a running development, but I think the hype would dry up a lot.
This idea seems like it would be pushing a lot of the risk and failure to later into the development. Every FF7 fan will buy the first part, even those complaining about this. Just think back to that pic of the 'Boycott Modern Warfare' steam group with every member playing MW on release. Those funds definitely would help secure the rest of the development, even if profits drop off dramatically after the first episode.
I think it would help if we knew more about the structure of the releases (price, release timings, plot break-ups), but I doubt they're even 100% certain of any of these things, so the fan speculation has just run rampant. Plus, anytime the word "episodic" is uttered people are gonna throw a tantrum. Combine that with the rabid FF7 rage over the combat-system being changed from simple turn-based to more action, and these fanboys are just frothing at the mouth in anger. But, I guess it's better to get this info out early for these guys to cry it out, and get used to the idea. I look forward to reading the outrage popping back up when they announce what's in part 1, then again when they have demos at E3, then again when it's released.
Eh, maybe I'm not the person for this type of game, but this looks super boring. So much killing non-consequential people, dying so easily, until you stumble upon point to capture/hold or the AT-AT's shield is down. Those short moments seem exciting when it matters, but so much of this game just seems like... running, then taking potshots at an enemy across the map.
Dan found out twice that he could use the water rod to kill octorocks. He proceeds to run back and forth trying to kill them with his sword. I can't watch this.
On the discussion of the "Movie Voice" guy, one reason it's not really used anymore is that the man they usually used to voice them, Don LaFontaine, passed away in 2008.
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