Half marathon gold coast

Coast Guard rescues 7 after lightning strikes boat 100 miles off Florida

June 27, 2022 by www.foxnews.com Leave a Comment

Coast Guard video shows lightning striking boat off Florida coast

No one was reportedly injured, and all seven passengers were airlifted to safety

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A U.S. Coast Guard crew rescued seven boaters after lightning struck and disabled their vessel off the coast of Florida on Saturday, officials said.

The seven boaters were taking part in a fishing tournament when their 39-foot personal vessel got caught in a storm about 100 miles off the shore of Clearwater, the U.S. Coast Guard said. One member of the group was recording video of the storm with his cellphone when lightning struck the boat.

“There was just the biggest flash like light bulbs right in your face,” boat passenger Sherrie Kelley told FOX13 Tampa .

Kelly’s brother, Glenn Rumer, described how the lightning briefly knocked out their friend Josh, who was using his cellphone to record video of the storm.

GOOD SAMARITAN RESCUES FISHERMAN OFF OREGON COAST AS FLAMES ENGULF BOAT, COAST GUARD SAYS

“The electricity from the lightning actually went through him and caused him to black out and go to the floor,” Rumer told the station, adding that their friend “came to immediately” after falling over.

No injuries were reported after lightning struck and disabled a boat with seven people on board 100 miles off the coast of Clearwater, Florida, the U.S. Coast Guard said. (U.S. Coast Guard District 7)

While the Coast Guard said no one was seriously injured during the incident, the lightning strike damaged the boat’s engine, stranding the boaters at sea. Kelley said the lightning strike had also traveled up the outrigger, which broke in half and caught fire.

Rumer was prepared for an emergency on the water and activated the vessel’s emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB), which transmitted a continuous radio signal so that rescuers were able to pinpoint their location.

“Fortunately, the boaters in this case were well-prepared with all necessary safety equipment including an EPIRB, flares, and a marine VHF radio to ensure a quick and efficient rescue,” Coast Guard pilot Lt. David McKinley said.

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Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater deployed a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew to their location and hoisted the five women and two men safely from the disabled boat. The crew returned them to the air station where family greeted them .

McKinley said that lightning storms are routinely encountered in the waters of Florida and can pose a danger to boaters.

Half of buildings seismically assessed at Timaru Hospital considered ‘high risk’

June 27, 2022 by www.stuff.co.nz Leave a Comment

Four of eight buildings which have been seismically assessed for the South Canterbury District Health Board have been identified as posing a high or very high safety risk in an earthquake.

On the eve of its dissolution, the district health board’s building portfolio is looking decidedly shaky by National Building Standards (NBS).

Data, provided under the Official Information Act, shows only a fraction of buildings the DHB is responsible for have been seismically assessed. Of those, half are considered earthquake prone or earthquake risk buildings.

The NBS gives an assessment of an older building’s seismic performance relative to a new building.

Buildings which score less than 34% of the NBS are considered Earthquake Prone, while those which measure less than 67% of the standards are classed as Earthquake Risk Buildings.

Timaru Hospital’s main clinical services building has a “<34% NBS” rating. It is unclear why an actual figure is not provided, and the DHB has been asked to clarify.

The SCDHB document, last updated in 2022, lists 29 buildings and assets – from the hospital laundry to the main clinical services building, and includes the chapel, car parks and the MRI suite. The document gives rankings based on the five-stage level of importance (IL), the number of storeys above and below ground, and – for a handful – the percentage of NBS reached.

Just eight have a seismic assessment.

It is not known when the seismic assessments were conducted, or why so many of the buildings are listed as not having been seismically assessed.

Of those assessed, three are rated as earthquake prone: the five-storey main clinical services building, built in 1976, which has a NBS score of < 34%, the three-storey workshop, built in 1962, which scored 15%, and the two-storey laundry, built in 1950, which scored 13%.

Under the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016 , buildings which meet 20-34% of NBS are classed as posing a ‘significant life safety hazard’ in a seismic event, while less than 20% of NBS is classed as ‘very high risk’.

Two buildings at Timaru Hospital fall into the earthquake-risk category: the four-storey energy centre, which has a rating of 50% NBS and the one-storey garden block, which at 67% of NBS sits just above the cut-off between categories (35-66% is classed as medium risk, 67-79% is classed as low to medium risk).

The gardens block north administration block met 74% of NBS, the gardens block south outpatient building, scored 96% of NBS, and tunnels across the site received a 100% grade (but had no IL rating).

The Building Code defines buildings based on their level of importance and the consequences of their failure, from level one (structures presenting a low degree of hazard to life or property, like walkways, outbuildings, fences and walls), to level five (structures whose failure pose a catastrophic risk).

Level three (IL3) buildings may house large numbers of people, occupants with other risk factors, or be of increased importance in a disaster, while level four buildings are “essential to post-disaster recovery or associated with hazardous facilities”, according to the legislation , requiring them to meet a higher earthquake rating, and to allow them to be operational within hours of a significant earthquake.

Of the eight buildings with seismic assessments, three are ranked as IL3 or IL4.

The system for managing earthquake prone buildings categorises New Zealand into three seismic risk areas – high, medium and low. Timaru is classified as a medium seismic risk area.

In May, the Hutt Valley District Health Board announced Hutt Hospital’s eight-storey Heretaunga block met just 15% of the NBS, forcing it to relocate a significant portion of beds and services housed in the building.

A number of other DHBs have similar issues, including Capital and Coast, which is relocating parts of Wellington Hospital’s emergency department , Hawke’s Bay hospital , and Tauranga Hospital.

The DHB will be merged into one of four regions to come under the auspices of the new national body, Health NZ, which comes into effect on July 1, joining Canterbury/West Coast, Nelson Marlborough, and Southern in the Te Waipounamu region.

Health NZ will also take on the various DHBs’ seismic liabilities as part of the massive health system reforms underway.

The SCDHB has been approached for comment.

No news is not good news, Timaru

It’s all on in Timaru. The future of the CBD is under consideration, there are large-scale building projects under way at Showgrounds Hill and the rebuild of Scott Base will soon commence. The region continues to fight back against an increase in meth use, and an increased gang presence.

All of these issues need careful, thorough coverage to ensure everyone in the community stays up to date.

Stuff’s reporting on South Canterbury’s biggest stories is free for everyone. If you’ll be reading it, please make a contribution today.

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Greatest shipwreck since Mary Rose discovered off coast of Norfolk

June 10, 2022 by www.telegraph.co.uk Leave a Comment

It has lain undiscovered on the Norfolk sandbanks for hundreds of years, since sinking during a maritime disaster that almost killed the heir to the throne.

Now, the wreck of HMS Gloucester has been found by amateur divers in what experts have described as the most significant maritime discovery since the Mary Rose.

The royal ship ran aground and sank in 1682 while carrying the future King James II , a Catholic heir poised to inherit the Protestant throne from King Charles II at a moment of acute political and religious crisis in Britain.

Two brothers, Julian and Lincoln Barnwell, found the warship after spending four years combing thousands of miles of seabed, before embarking on a painstaking, years-long identification process.

It took another five years for historians to confirm that the wreck was the Gloucester. It was split down the keel and remains of the hull are submerged in sand, complicating the excavation.

In 2012, the ship’s bell was used by the Receiver of Wreck and the Ministry of Defence to identify the vessel, as it had the distinctive date of 1681 engraved into it.

But the discovery has been kept secret for a decade.

The extensive work required to protect the security of an “at risk” site in international waters – the precise location of which will not be publicly disclosed – has meant it is only now that the discovery can be announced.

It will ensure the site can only be accessed by divers with proper licences to deter others from plundering it for valuable artefacts .

Researchers hope the wreckage will shed new light on a tragedy, which had major political ramifications and helped shape the troubled reign of King James II.

“Because of the circumstances of its sinking, this can be claimed as the single most significant historic maritime discovery since the raising of the Mary Rose in 1982,” said Prof Claire Jowitt, a world-leading authority on maritime cultural history and head of the accompanying research project at the University of East Anglia (UEA).

“The discovery promises to fundamentally change understanding of 17th-century social, maritime and political history.”

The remains of the ship, around 27 miles off the coast of Great Yarmouth, will help researchers understand the circumstances of the Gloucester’s sinking, which were bitterly disputed at the time.

Historians believe the behaviour of James Stuart, then the Duke of York, helped sow the seeds of rebellion among both a close adviser and the controller of the navy, who would later assist efforts to depose him.

The ship set sail from Portsmouth, picking up the Duke in Margate on his way to collect his heavily pregnant wife from Edinburgh, so the family could return to England. King Charles II, his elder brother, was in poor health and had no legitimate children.

At around 5.30am on May 6, the Gloucester ran aground on the treacherous Norfolk sandbanks following a dispute involving the Duke, a former Lord High Admiral, who insisted the pilot followed his course.

The Duke delayed abandoning ship to the last minute, needlessly costing the lives of an estimated 130 to 250 people who, because of protocol, could not abandon ship before royalty.

He accepted no responsibility for the sinking, instead blaming James Ayres, the pilot, who was court-martialed and imprisoned.

Prof Jowitt said: “James’s behaviour on the ship and afterwards likely changed how a lot of powerful individuals thought about him.

“A tragedy of considerable proportions in terms of loss of life, both privileged and ordinary, the full story of the Gloucester’s last voyage and the impact of its aftermath needs re-telling, including its cultural and political importance, and legacy.”

The sinking of the Gloucester was witnessed by Samuel Pepys, the diarist, who described in a letter to a friend how survivors and victims were picked up “half dead” from the water.

Reflecting on how much worse the disaster could have been, he wrote: “Had this fallen out but two hours sooner in the morning, or the yachts at the usual distance they had all the time before been, the Duke himself and every soul had perished.”

Many valuable artefacts have already been recovered, including a wine bottle bearing a glass seal with the crest of the Legge family, which was the forerunner to the US Stars and Stripes flag and belonged to the ancestors of George Washington.

The improbable mission that led to their recovery began in around 2003, when Lincoln Barnwell was flicking through a book on shipwrecks and read about HMS Gloucester.

He and his brother, printers by trade, had been passionate divers since their childhood and decided to see whether they could find the lost ship off the coast of their home county.

On the day they discovered the wreck, they had almost given up in unfavourable conditions – but decided to press ahead with the dive, having made the journey.

They began spending “every window of opportunity” on diving voyages that could last up to 18 hours a day, assisted by survey equipment that helped them narrow their focus.

However, it still took four years – and around 4,000 miles – for them to make their breakthrough in 2007.

“I was heading down the anchor line and about three-quarters of the way down, in really good water visibility, I started to see some shadows on the seabed and before you knew it, I was kneeling on the seabed literally in awe of the sight of these magnificent cannons,” Lincoln Barnwell, 51, said.

For the brothers, finally being able to speak publicly about their extraordinary work has proved to be a strange ordeal.

Julian Barnwell, 55, said: “I can’t believe it, it makes us nervous – for so long, we’ve had to keep it quiet, to protect and survey, we’ve been acting like the guardians, that’s how it feels.”

A major exhibition will be staged in Norwich between February and July next year, produced through a partnership of the Barnwell brothers, UEA and the Norfolk Museums Service.

It will display finds from the wreck – including the bell that confirmed the ship’s identity – and share ongoing research.

It’s Never Too Late to Become a Runner. Here’s How.

June 24, 2022 by www.sfgate.com Leave a Comment

I’ve had an odd running life, which means I’ve had a normal one.

The sport’s brought me equal parts pain and wonder. I’ve used it as a refuge, as a coping mechanism and as a launching pad for adventures — in Montauk, in Death Valley, in the Scottish Highlands, you name it.

At one point in my life, I hated running so much I swore I would never take it up again. Today, I can’t imagine my life without it. On days where I do run, the last few minutes of the final mile are my favorite of the entire day.

Coming to grips with running — and learning to welcome it in its healthiest form — took me a long time. I’m lucky to have the relationship to the sport that I do now, but I’ve made so many mistakes along the way. Often, when I’m asked how to get into running, I’m so excited they’ve approached me on the topic that I’ll start planning their first month of workouts. By the end of my monologue, I can see that I’ve ruined it. Fat chance they’re still interested after they’ve heard me extolling the joys of “fartleks.” If they somehow are, they’ll be abandoning the program by Week Two, regardless.

The following is the pitch I’ve been too breathless to effectively communicate: a measured, well-paced prescription for those looking to get into the sport. (Or, alternatively, for those who have gotten into it — perhaps during the “running boom” of the early pandemic — but found their interest peter out or their exhaustion total up.)

It’s possible to stitch together a running life in stops, starts and sputters, but a sustainable one is best built by embracing these core credos. From the importance of recovery fitness to my aversion for races and run streaks, here’s what you need to know about becoming a runner — no matter how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.

Pace Yourself

Last year, the bourbon label Knob Creek wanted to design a program meant to encourage the health of bartenders around the country (who were hit hard mentally and physically the last couple years, and even in normal times, struggle to stay in shape due to the nature of their work). They envisioned a virtual running club. But the idea wasn’t testing well, so the creative agency behind the initiative decided to brand it as a jogging club instead, dividing participants into regional teams with fun names (“Hair of the Jog”) and low-stakes goals. It was a smash; after 12 weeks, 75% of them met a distance goal, many had lost weight and at least one had called the experience “life changing.”

Point being? Start slow — the goal here is to turn running into a routine, not a chore. You’re allowed to jog before you run, and in the end, the difference doesn’t really matter. I recommend running at whatever your “conversation pace” is in the early days, and focusing on running a bit farther before you attempt running any faster. A one-mile loop is a great place to start. Importantly, running should not replace all other forms of exercise overnight. Limit your running to a four-a-week max, at first, to keep both the activity and your knees fresh. Experiment with different paths so it feels like an exploration, not a forced march. And bring earbuds, so you can listen to something other than your panting. There’s a decent chance that the last time you ran with any regularity, you didn’t have access to a good pair. Take it from someone who loves running — without music, the whole affair can really suck.

No Rush on Racing

For some who take to running, it’s tempting to map every adventure on Strava, compare yourself to others in your age group, or show up to wildly popular running locales with an aim to impress (e.g. New York’s West Side Highway on a Friday). Broadly speaking, that’s all fine — as obsessions go, you could do worse than one of the most heart-healthy activities known to man. But the competitive/performative maw of running culture can lead many nascent runners to believe that the point of the sport is to enter races and post sweaty finish line photos on Instagram. And that’s far from the truth. You can be a lifelong runner and never enter a single race, be it a local 5K or a major marathon.

In fact, it’s probably in your best interest to refrain from entering a race for at least your first year of running. Why? Race-training can carry some of the uncomfortable qualities of goal-oriented fitness. You lock in for a few months in the hopes of completing a single race, you do it, and then, within 72 hours, you start to appreciate “having your life back.” Perhaps you begin sleeping in again, or eating a little more at certain points in the day. Four months go by and you’ve barely run at all, so you think about signing up for another race, as a motivation tool to get back into shape again. To dodge the plight of the on-again, off-again racer, and lean into the lifestyle of a runner, try to eschew the publicly competitive aspects of the sport for a bit. That doesn’t mean you can’t be ambitious; just begin with goals that you only share with yourself. When you’re ready to take that next leap in running, you’ll know. FYI: in the last 12 months, I’ve only competed in two races.

Spend Money

You don’t have to go crazy. But that line about runners “only needing” a pair of laced-up sneakers and open road is trite and hollow, especially in a golden age of performance tech. You should absolutely spend a few bucks on a pair of everyday trainers that won’t cause you shin splints, some socks that won’t cause you blisters and some running shorts that won’t chafe your most sensitive regions. Plus: whatever other layers, hats, phone cases or water bottles you need to feel confident and happy about your new hobby. I get asked once a month about my “favorite running sneakers.” I usually lie. The truth is a fun carbon-plated pair from Nike, because they run so goddamn fast, but I tend to shoot links to my preferred everyday running sneakers, which is the proper place for new runners to start. Right now, I swear by On Running’s Cloudmonster , and Saucony’s Endorphin Speed 2 . My favorite running outfitters, meanwhile, include: Janji , Tracksmith , Allbirds (great shirts, believe it or not), Ten Thousand , Iffley Road , Balega (socks!) and Vuori . It’s expensive stuff throughout, be warned. But your body’s nooks and crannies will thank you in the long run.

Skip the Streaks

Heads up: there’s a subset community of runners known as “streakers.” The most famous and gung-ho of the lot have entries in the United States Running Streak Association or Streak Runners International, and have run at least one mile within each calendar day for years on end, come rain, sleet or broken collarbone. Of the near-4,000 runners on these lists, their only hope of climbing the ladder is in waiting for those above them to finally stop running…or die. While coverage on run streaks is invariably positive, emphasizing how inspirational and resilient streakers are, it’s important to note that the practice has birthed a dubious “no days off” ethos from brands and influencers in the world of running.

Take it from Colleen Quigley, a middle-distance runner who competed at the 2016 Olympics, won gold at the 2019 USATF Indoor Championships (finishing the mile in 4:29) and now runs with Lululemon. As she said to us earlier this year: “The tricky thing with a run streak is that running is an awesome activity that is great for the body and mind… except for that pesky overuse issue. It’s a repetitive motion, it’s weight-bearing and it’s fairly high-impact, so it requires proper recovery between runs to let your muscles and tissues repair.” As you get into running, try to remember that you don’t have to — and and honestly, should not — run every single day. Your body deserves its rest. Listen to it when it’s presenting as overtaxed, let alone hurt, and learn to appreciate that you can become a better runner on a given day without actually running.

Recovery Is King

How so? Through old-school self-care, which now often involves newfangled machinery, like massage guns or automated compression sleeves. If you’re not looking to shell out for the toys, just commit to habits that are kind and attentive to your body’s tissue and joints, which, admittedly, is bound for a pounding after even just a few days of running on cement or trails a week. Some essential rules, along with some offbeat tips:

Prioritize dynamic stretches before each run (leg swings, skips, backpedals, etc.) and static ones after a run, when the body is warm and receptive to flexibility-building poses (seated back twists, calf stretches, forward folds, etc.)
Take at least two days off from running a week, and make sure one run a week is a “recovery run” — slow, steady, a chance to pinpoint aches in the body
Fuel up properly: running burns twice as many calories per minute than walking. I’ll keep it to a banana, water and maybe some oatmeal an hour before I get out there (lots of runners swear by coffee, too), but once the run is done for the day, I’m eating fruits, veggies, nuts, grains and fish all day to avoid the “relative energy deficiency” trap.
Cross-train with cycling, yoga, boxing, swimming, soccer…you name it. Running doesn’t have to become the be-all, end-all of your physical activity. In fact, it’s fun to see how your newfound endurance translates to other concentrations.
Sleep with intention — to the tune of at least seven hours a night — and cancel morning runs if you’re exhausted or under the weather. It isn’t worth it. You’ll get ’em tomorrow.
Keep an open mind to emerging “hacks” that’ll make you a guinea pig in your training program, and make the whole operation of running a lot more fun. I recommend looking into beet juice as a nitrate-boosting pre-workout, cold water therapy for the restorative benefits and running backwards to give your lower half a unique challenge.

Need for Speed

There will come a time where you’ll feel ready and motivated to graduate to a more serious running regimen. That may involve signing up for a race, joining a running club, or choosing a time you’d like to get under. At any rate, you’ll eventually come face to face with track workouts. For new runners, they can seem incredibly intimidating; after all, even serious runners speak about them with a mixture of reverence and revulsion. I wish I could dispel that reputation, but it’s true…they suck. They’ll also make you a better, faster runner. What should you know about them right now? Not much — explaining track workouts to a nascent runner is sort of like expecting a pre-schooler to have a grasp of long division.

Suffice to say, they involve running repeats around a track. A basic example would involve doing the same distance over and over again with short periods of “active rest” (the lightest jog you’ve ever seen) in between each interval. So, a 12 x 400 workout would ask for 12 laps around the track, all at 90% effort or more, with maybe two minutes of rest in between each. Other, more complicated workouts play with varying distances or ask for different pacing goals. The one thing to know, as scary as track workouts sound, is that all ages are capable of performing them. There is no age limit. Speed is relative, but effort isn’t, and as long as you want to become a better runner, the track is always there to help that process along. I would recommend making your first foray onto the track at a time that the weather’s good, and you’ve been putting in time on the roads for at least three months.

Globetrotting

A friend of mine once told me that he packs his running shoes anytime he’s visiting a new city. He likes to run an aimless three miles just after he’s checked into his hotel. It’s his version of riding the local double-decker bus. I’ve gotten into the habit of running on my trips, too (whether I’m there for work or leisure), and now I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is perhaps the greatest gift a regular running routine can offer you — when you’re on the other side of the world, eager to make some sense of a place with your feet, you can do so without needing to wheeze on the side of the road for 45 minutes. You don’t even need to fly somewhere to take advantage of this superpower. There are parks and neighborhoods in all of our backyards, primed and ready for some exploration. More than hitting a specific time, or taking home a medal, this is the running future you should dream about and cherish. One where you’re free to roam and fit enough to find your way home.

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Epic monster battles will be at the heart of Final Fantasy XVI

June 23, 2022 by www.theverge.com Leave a Comment

The thing Naoki Yoshida is most excited about in Final Fantasy XVI is the eikon battles.

In speaking to The Verge , Yoshida, the game’s director, talked about how earth-shattering, knock-down, drag-out fights between some of the franchise’s most prominent and popular monsters featured heavily in this latest single-player, non-remake entry in the 35-year-old JRPG series.

Summons — aka espers, aka aeons, aka eidolons, aka GF (lol) and now eikons — have been a fixture in the Final Fantasy series, representing a kind of “break glass in case of emergency” option in combat. Over the years, players have had varying levels of control over them with the power to call them forth for a one-time big hit like in Final Fantasy VII and IX , issue commands to them directly like in Final Fantasy X, or to summon them as NPC combat allies like in FFXII . But Final Fantasy XVI seems to offer more to summon combat than just having a big dude show up to beat on other dudes for you.

“We have these epic summon versus summon battles,” Yoshida said, speaking through a translator. “And these are not only going to be in cutscenes. The players will be able to actually get into those battles and control an eikon of their own and feel the excitement from the inside, not just from an outside type of view.”

Eikons are at the heart of all the trailers, media, and lore we’ve seen of Final Fantasy XVI so far, and focusing the game on these creatures of immense and awesome power is key to Yoshida’s vision.

“We envision Final Fantasy XVI as like a giant, high-speed roller coaster that will take players on a thrilling ride both story- and gameplay-wise.”

Final Fantasy is in the middle of a “hot Garuda summer” period. Final Fantasy XIV continues to enjoy worldwide popularity while fans are eagerly anticipating the arrival of not only a Crisis Core remake but the launch of the second installment in the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy . No matter if you are a single-player or MMO Final Fantasy fan, you are eating well. But the arrival of XVI revives concerns about Square Enix’s ability to make a successful, original, single-player Final Fantasy title.

The annoyingly titled Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin made waves for being a weird “cringe but make it camp” game outside of the traditional action RPG format, but it didn’t enjoy widespread success. Additionally, Final Fantasy XV was a commercial hit but a critical failure plagued with delays , scope changes , platform changes, and leadership changes creating a messy hodgepodge of a game ( though sprinkled with some truly brilliant series-defining moments ) with a back-half that is almost wholly indefensible.

Going into XVI , Yoshida and his team were aware of the problems that dogged FFXV ’s production.

“One of the first things that we did back in the early days of Final Fantasy XVI development, when we were still just a tiny team, was first focus on what kind of game system we’re having,” Yoshida said. “And then once we had that, we finalized the meat of the script and narrative.”

The result, Yoshida says, is a game that is currently fully playable from start to finish, hopefully without the worry of needing DLC or books to fill in gaps or better express the game’s story after the fact.

Fans are excited for XVI in a way they may not have been for other Final Fantasy games because of Yoshida. He is a big reason why Square Enix was able to salvage Final Fantasy XIV from a barely playable mess into the critically acclaimed game that was, just last year, so popular sales and free trials had to be suspended to alleviate server congestion. I wanted to know what, if any, of his secret FFXIV sauce made it into FFXVI .

But Yoshida said that working on Final Fantasy XVI didn’t call too much upon his experience with Final Fantasy XIV because they’re two very different games for players who want very different things.

“Working on a mainline title and learning who the fans of Final Fantasy are and what those fans expect from the series is what’s proved the most invaluable,” Yoshida said.

Yoshida explained that the experience of developing these games is like the difference between a marathon and a 100-meter dash. He’s a marathon runner, used to stretching out a story in order to keep fans interested and continuously playing, and he needed to train himself, so to speak, to run much faster over a much shorter distance.

“Compared with an MMO, single-player games are more about providing instant gratification,” he said. “They’re short bursts of extreme excitement and then, when you get to the finish, ending on a bang that has people think ‘Wow, that was a great game.’”

Yoshida isn’t the only person from the FFXIV team working on FFXVI. Fans are equally excited to see XIV ’s composer Masayoshi Soken working on XVI ’s music. I asked if Yoshida had any insight into how Soken has been handling the new assignment.

“ Final Fantasy XIV has always been considered like a Final Fantasy theme park, and this has allowed for a lot of different types of music styles,” Yoshida said. “ Final Fantasy XVI , however, is a more focused experience fixed firmly on Clive Rosefield and his journey. As such, I envisioned a more focused experience when it comes to music as well.”

Yoshida shared that Soken confided in him that he’s actually been having a tough time adapting to work on a single-player game.

“Focusing on one theme has been actually very challenging for him,” Yoshida said. “It’s been a long time since he’s had to do that and not be able to just do whatever he wants.”

Yoshida feels that Final Fantasy XVI is a coming of age of sorts for him. He talked about his time playing the first Final Fantasy as a child and how his imagination made him feel like he was playing a movie. Now, with all the advancements in technology, he doesn’t have to rely on his imagination anymore.

“I look at Final Fantasy XVI as like taking the best part of a movie and the best part of a game and putting those together to make a truly interactive type of game / movie,” he said. “The most exciting part about developing this game has been the eikons with the sheer size and scale of their battles. When I was a child playing Final Fantasy I , with its pixel graphics, this is how I imagined they would look and being able to see them now has been really exciting.”