Change of the guard.

This gen has seen some amazing shifts.  One area I find most interesting is how the tried and true top-guns have been dethroned in either experience, or in fan-hype.  Remember when Grand Theft Auto and Final Fantasy were the get goes?  Well that has seemed to have been shifting faster than a gladiator-quality Druid.

Both of these titles have launched with their first iterations this gen, and both were met with some rather luke-warm receptions.  People either expected more from these games or they were hindered by issues, and perhaps even more so, people may have finally been burnt out on them.

The more interesting thing is that Rockstar and Square-Enix haven't been left in the cold.  Instead, they have the IPs that either surpassed the old guard, or have an IP that people are clamoring for.  Red Dead Redemption is in my opinion, the best sandbox game to date.  The story was enthralling, the content immense, the gameplay fun, and the different setting that wasn't done right in a long time maybe the punch the sandbox genre needed.  Every Game of the Year award won by this title was well justified unlike the last GTA which rode a hype machine to any nomination it received I believe.  Now it looks like Rockstar may have another killer title hitting, L.A. Noire. This game seems to have all of said values, but in addition it has a setting that wasn't every properly fleshed out before.  In this game you follow the journey of an ordinary police officer, as they go from the beat, to getting a new shield moving into the crime department.  This is another breath of fresh air to me as it's an interesting era.  In a day and age of "Modern Warfares", this one is surely to stand out.  It seems to be an untapped segment.  Sure, games have gone dated before, like many RPGs with your staple of knights and armor along with slaying numerous Nazis, and they certainly have gone both current and future, but there's these untapped segments that stand out and will certainly garner the interest of millions.

So now onto Final Fantasy.  Has this series finally reached it's burnout phase?  It seems so, even by just looking over various forums and just hearing ramblings out in public.  But Square-Enix isn't exactly left in the cold neither.  Unfortunately, they haven't tapped their resource.  Kingdom Hearts, yes Kingdom Hearts is one of those series that has a huge interest going for it.  A truly unique setting combined with something that tugs at the old heartstrings, Disney characters and content, along with it's fun yet simple gameplay, is something people have been wanting more of.  Unfortunately, Square-Enix has utterly failed it's fans here.  Sure they released numerous "spin-offs" on portables, but people want the flagship console game.  They want what we can expect from a full-blown console title, with fully fleshed-out story, tons of settings and content, and of course stunning visuals and audio.  This is something neither the PSP nor 3DSi'phones can deliver.  Perhaps the upcoming "NGP" or PSP2 can due to it's incredible hardware can, but let's be realistic here.  Who wouldn't prefer watching a beautifully rendered animated film in which you control from your comfy couch while viewing on your massive TV, and hear it all in full-surround glory?  I know I want this.  Unfortunately though, Square-Enix is lost this gen, like many Japanese developers, who have all-but dropped the ball.  It's not that people don't want those games anymore, it's just they're NOT there for us to drop cash on.  But hey, this is a different topic I may discuss later on about.

Of course not all proven IPs have flopped and burnt out.  Metal Gear Solid, SOCOM, Gran Turismo, Halo, Call of Duty(ies) have all been successful.  But let's be honest here, who last gen would have said that Grand Theft Auto and Final Fantasy would have fallen from grace?