Columned-Munny

I'm in the minority of folks that doesn't read every interview. Right now it feels like "filler news" to me, even though I know that's not necessarily the case. I might take a look when the mood hits me.

I think he'll be 16 in KHIII; he was 15 at the start of KHII, it's reasonable to guess that the events of that game, Coded (even though he was just bumming around on Destiny Islands that game), Dream Drop Distance, and however long the rest of his training with Yen Sid might take will equal at least a year.

I picture something like in Iron Man 3, where Aqua walks up and embraces the armor she knows so well...then Terra walks in.

If I have 2.5, then yes. Playing them all in order... *shudders with anticipation.

I would add another option for "disgruntled, but not unhappy". At first I really didn't mind. The wait for the HD remaster was already long, what was another few months? But now, in the thick of it, I feel a bit more annoyed. Midsummer would've been perfect. I know virtually nothing about game localization, so I can't criticize how long it's been taking. But that doesn't make the wait any easier. Hopefully 2.5 will be quicker, though I doubt it will.

These similarities are pretty much superficial. Pretty much half the protagonist characters of significance have a shade of blue (Sora, Riku, Kairi, Xion, Roxas, Ventus,Terra, Aqua, Axel...). Also, "considered naive", "very trusting" and "easily duped" is saying the same thing three times, just with different words. It's clear that Terra is to Riku, Ventus is to Sora, and Aqua is to Kairi. If you're worried about corruption, I'd be more concerned about whatever part of Vanitas might be within him than his likeness to Terra.

For me Avatar the Last Airbender was to cartoons in the same way Kingdom Hearts was to videogames.

Here's what I want; I want Goofy and Donald to be replaced by Riku and Kairi, or at least switchable. When they're in your party you can take direct control of them, effectively rotating who you're controlling. I'm unsure about KHIII being a split narrative like DDD or BBS. I think, just think mind you, I want the console games to focus solely on one party's adventure the same way KH and KHII did. Having Kairi and Riku in your party in any fashion is an attractive proposition to me. These are three best friends who've been on separate journeys thus far. It might be interesting and cathartic to see them all travelling together, to have Sora introduce them to his old friends. Kairi could meet some of her fellow princesses, Riku might be able to settle some things he's done in the past (abducting Jasmine for instance). With 13 Darknesses running around, it might not be a bad idea to have the 7 Lights team up to face them.

I'm pretty sure the similarities are just superficial, though I can appreciate the urge to analyze every minute detail of that trailer. It was far too short!

The dude from the Sopranos.

Sony not changing anything may've just defined the next gaming generation.

Shocking. Not that they reversed the decision, but that up until yesterday the policies were being defended by Microsoft, who thought they had done no wrong. There must be an incredible amount of miscommunication happening at HQ. It's important to remember that things could've gone the other way. If Sony hadn't taken the route they had, if they had online check-ins and sharing restrictions like Microsoft, then that would be our future. This is a victory not for Sony or Microsoft, but for gamers and consumers. I'm still getting a PS4 though.

I believe Corey Burton has stepped in for characters Christopher Lee has been before: he's Count Dooku in the Clone Wars, which was a Chris Lee character originally. He sounds close enough to me that I never minded the change.

I usually say "three-five-eight over two days", but in general I call it "the worst named game in the series".

I read somewhere that Nintendo brought "comfort food" to E3 this year, and I have to agree. Not a lot of risk, nothing unexpected, yet plenty to keep fans happy. The only complaint I have is that they didn't seem to have a defining title for the show, something that felt like a big step forward and not just another increment in Mario's/DK's/LoZ's/SSB's evolution. I suppose SSB comes close, but some of the luster was lost due to the fact that everyone knew it was coming. Still, the fact remains; if you want those Nintendo games, Nintendo is happy to provide.

I actually think that the command/melding system is my favorite of all the games, and would love to see them evolve it for consoles.

I think it'd be cool if as some part of Sora's official training process he forged/made/found his own Keyblade, using it in addition to the Kingdom Key. It'd make the second Keyblade more personal and the task would make a suitable opening chapter from both a narrative and gameplay perspective; the first few hours are spent re-learning the gameplay mechanics as Sora is completing the final part of his training with Yen Sid, and the game opens up as he obtains his new Keyblade and the combat mechanics associated with dual-wielding. Or they could use the excuse of "it's a magic giant key, why wouldn't you want two of them!" to justify him having the ability and I'd be satisfied.

I'm surprised they haven't announced it already.

That reasoning makes sense to me. I dunno...the remixes are partially being done in order to prepare people for KHIII. If there aren't any immediate plans to bring the game to the Wii U, I don't know why they'd put 2.5 on it. Hope springs eternal though.

You know I wasn't going to, but I'll probably wind up trying, taking it in incremental doses to keep any potential frustration low.

I've never had a problem with that part on Expert, and I'm looking forward to the increased challenge of FM.

It won't be, but yes, it should.

The closest analogy I can think of is when Square teased something to do with The World Ends With You and it wound up being an iOS port. I think some some people would think the concept is great and buy it, but it's not what everybody else wants.

They should never put Star Wars into Kingdom Hearts. Never. Square and Disney characters were able to find harmony by having Nomura alter both their styles a little and because they both focused on their fantasy elements. Star Wars is a much greater leap to get it to fit with everything else both visually and tonally. Same goes for Marvel. Just because Disney owns a property doesn't mean it belongs in Kingdom Hearts. Also, your picture looks nice. Might want to change the font to make it stand out a bit more, the whole thing is rather saturated with blue.

Sony won by defining the terms for the next console war. If they had decided to go with the same/similar policies and pricing as Microsoft it would've been much closer. Microsoft had a good showing, but oversold their ability to sway people's current conceptions about the Xbox One. And, as always, Nintendo proved that they're an essential part of the gaming ecosystem while not needing to be in direct competition with the other two. Hold on, what I meant to say was Sony showed the first trailer for KHIII, so they win by default. Forget that other stuff.