I think games have a very unique opportunity in the way they can become art. When I defend video games as art, the first game that comes to mind is Bioshock. What could and should have been just another shooter with cool looking environments became one of the best games I've played in several years. In fact, the last time I got that into a video game, its world and its story, was Final Fantasy 7. I spent days just wallowing in what I had just experienced. The characters, the story, the madness... What made Bioshock successful as a work of dramatic art is the same thing every successful dramatic undertaking has to have: a story that captures the themes of our existence and forces us to question what we accept as truth. What is unique to games is that the player is participating in the drama. The player can have choices that drastically alter the course of the game. Unfortunately, not Bioshock nor Fallout 3 has truly been able to accomplish what this should be in a video game. Sure, you made choices that had effects, but it still somehow came out forced and cheesy. Many developers are stepping up to this plate, now, but none have truly succeeded at the level I believe video games will reach within the next ten years. Now, getting down to the development itself. Just because a game doesn't attempt to do what the previously mentioned titles attempted does not deny that they are art in every sense of the word. Hundreds of very talented and dedicated people work tireless hours crafting these worlds for us to enjoy. Every room and every model, someone spent hours and hours of their lives pouring there hearts into. These are people with vision; from the artists who dream up the worlds and scenarios, to the programmers who dream up new tricks to help the artists create cooler sh*t. It's not something a stuck-up, hard-nosed, jag-off movie critic, or any critic/consumer could ever understand, unless they are indeed a part of this group of people. That is what art is. It's when people create that which didn't exist. It becomes high art when we use these creations to express ideas and themes that change people's lives.

To all you babies who are mad that their parents wont buy them this generation's card, errr, most people only upgrade ever other generation or every two generations of cards, at least fiscally responsible, smart adults do. There are no games coming out that make me want to buy this, plus these top of the line cards are always for the enthusiast (the cats that don't go out on Friday or Saturday night ;) Of course these reviews are meant to get you salvating, wanting, needing. It's called capitalist consumerism. If you don't feel it's worth it to upgrade every six months, then dont. Oh and actually learn how to read. They are running Crysis on high on 1600x1900. That's almost 1080p! I'd like to see PS3 or Xbox try that. Get a clue.

I just played Lost Odyssey, and I have to admit I enjoyed it a lot. Of course there's always that lost in translation thing with Japanese RPGs, but I thought the story was pretty well written. Some of the dialog was cheesy but no where near as bad as 10. I'd recommend it as it really is a throw back with a neat new twist on the game play. You could tell he was trying to channel 7's and a couple other final fantasies with the themes, but hey, every artists has his favorite themes :)

In response to the guy who said a remake of 7 wouldn't be good business, your a moron. Every single person who has such fond memories of playing through 7 will rush out to buy it, and a new ps3 if they don't already have one. I think your crazy to think it wouldn't sell at least the million the original did. I will admit that they'd need to revamp a lot of the mechanics, but turn-based RPGs still have a large market, especially in Japan. Also, the original's story seemed to convoluted due to a poor translation and localization. Of course the new version would spare no expense!