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I can hear their pleas at night. More like cries for help, really. They speak through the walls, calling for release. These lost souls came to this vile place with the best of intentions, and now they can only wait. And wait. And wait.

I am, of course, talking about my shamefully unplayed collection of fighting games. What did you think I was talking about? Because I'm not just a player. Oh no, it's far, far worse than that. I'm a collector.

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If you have never played a game in the Final Fantasy series, somehow managing to avoid exposure to Square Enix's behemoth for its long existence, where would you begin if you were interested in checking out the franchise?

This question has been on my mind for the past several weeks as I've put many hours into a game that I like more than I should, Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. 

Dissidia 012 isn't a game for everybody. It's a game for people who like Final Fantasy. As a devoted fan of the series, I like a lot of things in this little handheld brawler. I like the subtle differences in the way that the different characters play. And I like how the title asks you to play as each of the fighters, forcing you to learn their different styles.

But I also feel alone in my appreciation for Dissidia 012. Most of my friends don't know about Final Fantasy’s fine details. And so, as I have played, I have been mulling over the question of how one might introduce others to this beloved saga.

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I recently read through many of the Resident Evil 6 reviews, so I feel qualified to give you my critique of this blockbuster title. Let me start off by saying that I haven't played the game or the demo. I believe playing it before reviewing it will give me an unfair bias toward the game.

Let's start with Gamespot. They gave the game a 45/100. WOW. These guys are garbage. These guys obviously didn't play the game, either. I mean Game Informer gave RE6 an 88/100. Gamespot said that while the narrative is good, everything else sucks. I honestly don't get why people still go to this publication.

I mean c'mon; the reviewer says that the quick-time events are too long. How is that a bad thing? Quick-time events are soooo much fun. They also said that the game's set pieces are mediocre. I doubt that is true. But let's move on to a much more qualified publication.

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The guys at Did You Know Gaming are back with a new video filled with interesting trivia -- this time focused on the famous Mario series. I like to think that I know a thing or two about that adorable, italian plumber, but I have to admit to not knowing a single one of these facts. Live and learn, I guess.

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Sony recently announced that players can buy retail games from the PlayStation Network on launch day. Digital distribution is slowly encroaching, and for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, I welcome this idea. I've realized that many of the games I purchase for these consoles are ultimately disposable and rarely ever retain value. As much as I might have liked Call of Duty 4, it is virtually worthless to gamers eagerly awaiting Black Ops II. 

Nintendo is also pushing into the digital market with downloadable versions of first-party 3DS games, and I am far less eager to participate. 

Even though Nintendo first-party titles sell well, they almost always retain their value. If you go into a used game store today you're sure to find copies of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Kid Icarus Uprising, and Super Mario 3D Land hovering around their launch price points, even on the used game shelves. Mario Kart Wii is still incredibly hard to find over four years since its launch. 

While this reasoning feels very flawed, I can't help but view Nintendo games as more of an investment than things on the 360 or PS3.  Perhaps its because weird titles go missing (like Mario Kart Wii still selling for around $42 used) or that I typically enjoy replaying Mario and Pokémon titles. 

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Minecraft fans never stop impressing me. I mean, who else would recreate The Empire Strikes Back's iconic Hoth battle entirely inside their favorite game? It's funny, I remember a time when gaming had done this scene to death, but it's been long enough now that I'm sort of jonesing for a good Hoth level.

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Ignore the cumbersome title and all of the dudes in leotards. As offbeat as it seems, The Denpa Men: They Came By Wave is actually not that weird. This downloadable adventure for the 3DS handheld system is actually pretty traditional, sharing a lot in common with some classic Nintendo role-playing games (RPG). In fact, developer Genius Sonority appears to have played up this theme by filling its game with allusions to some popular RPGs such as The Legend of Zelda, Find Mii, Pokémon, and Earthbound.

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Ukiyo-e is a Japanese art style focusing on entertainment, pleasure, and landscape scenes. The brilliant artists at Ukiyo-e Heroes mixed their love of this beautiful style with iconic video game protagonists, creating action-packed sequences with a whimsical, floating feel. 

Prints start at $40 and go all the way up to $135 depending on the size you want. That might sound steep, but these images are actually made in the traditional way, meaning they are laboriously carved into wooden blocks before transferred to paper. 

Jed Henry and David Bull, the founders of Ukiyo-e Heroes, hope that these gaming-inspired works will inspire younger artists to pick up woodblock printing. The pair have already hired several traditional artists to help train apprentices in this style.

So, the high price seems fair when you consider that buying one helps keep a beautiful art form alive. I love the Metroid-inspired image above, but Ukiyo-e Heroes have also done prints of Star Fox, Pokémon, and Donkey Kong. You can find the full collection here. 

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The Community Spotlight features some of the best unedited articles that didn't quite make the front page.This week, we refuse to stay with our video-game tour group, reject the imbibing of our in-game characters, review what we know about the Unreal Engine 4, and more. Join us!

Stop making tour guides in video games
By Alexander Kraus

Alexander is sick of being told what to do. He acknowledges that gamers need motivation, but that it must be carefully crafted to appeal to the player. His favorite method? Stealing your stuff, a la Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

How being a teetotaler inspired my first immersive gaming moment
By Justin Davis

Lots of video games feature illicit substances, and some even allow players to partake (via their characters, of course). But Justin chose, in real life as well as in-game, not to do so...until a mission in Borderlands 2 took the decision out of his hands. Interesting take, no matter what your poison is.

Unreal Engine 4 might be bested by Square Enix engine
By Edward Varnell

Based on their appearances at this year's E3 convention, Edward examines the status of two of the biggest upcoming graphical engines. "I hate to admit this," he writes, "but (SE's engine) looks so much better though, half of developers would use UE4 or their own."What do you think?

Gaming's greatest 'epic misquotes'
By Nick Pino

Ever seen those Internet mash-up images that basically exist to piss off nerds and fanboys? (Like this one, for example.) Nick has made a few aimed at gamers. See if they get your hackles up.

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Here are some things I think about video games:

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I never thought about how terrible koopas must have it before I saw this video. I mean, just walking back and forth all day, running into pipes and peers, ultimately just waiting for Mario to come along and use you as a weapon to kill your friends.

Dark stuff, man.

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So there I was, playing the newly downloadable Jet Set Radio -- the classic cell-shaded skatepunk adventure -- on my PlayStation 3 and  absolutely hating it. That's quite an unfamiliar sensation to me. When the original disc-bound version released on the Dreamcast back in 2000, I loved every last morsel of it. The design, the popping colors, the sound, the challenges ... all awesomeness defined.
 
Now? The controls respond like I've submerged in extra-chunky mud. The camera feels deliberately designed to make me hate all life on Earth. A lot of the avatars look like somebody recycled code from an 8-bit version of Boom Blox. And I really want to destroy the guy who thought this thing was ready for prime time, because I've played pre-alpha indie games with zero budgets that handled better than this trash.
 
But here's the thing: Minus some anti-aliasing, it's the exact same game I played 12 years ago.
 
My new experience with Jet Set Radio makes me question my original experience back in 2000. I'm even a bit wary about pulling out other cherished favorites like 2005's surreal and superlative platformer Psychonauts for fear a new reality might crush my fond memories. I have to wonder ... do all those classic video games truly deserve such reverence? Were we wearing rose-tinted glasses for the last few decades? Or have we just grown too much as gamers?

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