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Role Playing (Games)

Final Fantasy Gets Creator, FFVII, Clock Spinoffs 57

Posted by simoniker from the all-by-myself dept.
Thanks to 1UP for noting that Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi has founded his own independent development company, according to Japanese magazine Famitsu Weekly. The company will be using "a small group of elite creators", planned to include "artists Yoshitaka Amano and Takehiko Inoue" - the article author also mentions: "Sakaguchi was ousted from any position of significant responsibility at Square after the multi-million-dollar boondoggle that was Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within." Elsewhere, RPGFan mentions a third Final Fantasy VII spin-off has been announced, following the CG movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and the mobile phone-based Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, but "no release date or platform information has been given so far" for this new title. Finally, Warcry reveals the Final Fantasy XI clock, due out Fall 2004 in the U.S., and featuring "the time, day of the week, date and year in both [Final Fantasy XI's game world] Vana'diel and also here on Earth."
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Final Fantasy Gets Creator, FFVII, Clock Spinoffs More

Final Fantasy Gets Creator, FFVII, Clock Spinoffs

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  • Is it just me or is it a bit harsh to oust a designer that made so many successful games just because he fucked up once? I mean, tg\he same happened to Gunpei Yokoi (creator of Metroid, Kid Icarus and the Virtual Boy...). Okay, official story was that he resigned, but we know how far to trust those, right? Either that's a cultural thing or someone's seriously overreacting...
    • At least from the business perspective. Think about it, the guy is a dinosaur by any perspective. When Final Fantasy IX came out, people were bitching about the 'old school' look being too 'kiddie'. Given the attitudes of most modern gamers these days (read : immature or impatient), theres no way he would've been able to lead a huge company like Square (now SquareEnix) into the 21th century of games.

      Or for a simplier comparison, if Final Fantasy 1-6 was released in its purist form (no graphic upgrades, no l

  • somehow, someway, Sephiroth is needed in this game, it wouldn't be Final Fantasy 7 without the most feared and beloved villian in a Video game Franchise
    • Sephiroth: I will be in this game, will I? Maybe that's what you think. Maybe that's what you've thought all along. In my veins courses the blood of the ancients. I am the rightful heir to this game. This game is not about me. This game is me. You stupid fools. This game is my mother. I am my mother. Mother, I shall return...

      [Meanwhile]

      Kefka: Ahem. There's SAND on my boots.
      Mook #1: Kefka, what are you doing?
      Kefka: Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! I'm poisioning Sephiroth's lunch. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!
      Mook #1: But

      • Re:sephiroth (Score:1, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        I think we need a law against Final Fantasy fan fiction. Wait, there already is one!
        • That was strung together from actual quotes from the two villans. It's interesting that they are the two most beloved Final Fantasy villans, yet they have such distinctly different styles and emotional levels. Kefka is a paper think lover of destruction and mayhem, who loves what he does and wouldn't think twice about kicking an inferior if it would scrape mud off his shoes. Sephiroth is an emotional bundle of contradictions, fleshed out in a confused man with delusions of grandeur. Both are evil, of co

  • Giant, terrible projects aren't undertaken solo (Score:4, Insightful)

    by cgenman ( 325138 ) on Friday July 23, 2004 @04:28AM (#9777526) Homepage
    Despite how terrible The Spirits Within really was, the other people at the company who greenlighted and went along with the project deserve blame too. Hironobu Sakaguchi played a pivotal role in their resurrection from total bankruptcy, eventually having a hand in everything good Square put out from the Final Fantasy series to Einhander, Parasite Eve to Bushido Blade. He interrupted the streak of great games to focus on making movies, a tragic mistake which nearly cost the company it's existence (again). But this is the man who shaped Japan's premier RPG series while it was still Japan's premier RPG series. While I wouldn't give him an extra large Christmas Bonus for The Spirits Within, he does deserve a second chance, with a little oversight and the promise that he will never try to turn square into something other than a videogame company again.

    There was more than one guy involved with Microsoft Bob. There was more than one guy who approved Clippy. There was more than one person who looked at the specs and decided that a 64 bit password on a wireless network would be secure enough. Why, then, is the man who was at the forefront of Square's shared delusion suddenly the sole heir of the blame? Do you want to be led into battle by a general who believes himself to be infalliable, or do you want to be led by someone who has had some experience and hard-learned lessons under his belt?

    • There was more than one guy involved with Microsoft Bob
      Actually, that was a woman. Melissa Gates.
    • Ofcourse they are not undertaken solo. But then again, neither are they an anarchist undertaking. A project like this is a make/break opportunity. And while Hironobu may have already "made it" by this time in history in some peoples eyes, if Spirits had succeeded, the project would have brought him to an entirely different level. I think Hironobu and Miyamoto would be heard in the same breath throughout the industry...if Sprits had succeeded. Great rewards come from great risk.

      Reward is separted from
    • I guess this is tipical of japanese companies. Remember Gumpei Yokoi in Nintendo? Virtual Boy? He had to left the company after the VB fiasco, and went to another company to design a competitor for the gameboy (I don't rememeber the details, but he later died in a car accident).

      Those wacko japanese.

    • Why, then, is the man who was at the forefront of Square's shared delusion suddenly the sole heir of the blame?

      I'd say he is the management fall guy. Would you rather have to "punish" an entire team for their work, or just one higher up manager that gave the go ahead and approved it?
    • I dunno, I didn't really think TSW was that terrible, myself. Obviously 'terrible' was how it did at the box office, but the movie itself wasn't bad. The story was too spiritual for the North American market to really accept it, and I think that's what killed it. If they had released it in Japan (did they?) I suspect it would've done much better over there, but they're not a big enough market to make a dent.

      I know that if the story had been different, I would've been able to recommend it wholeheartedly to
      • I dunno, I didn't really think TSW was that terrible, myself. Obviously 'terrible' was how it did at the box office, but the movie itself wasn't bad. The story was too spiritual for the North American market to really accept it, and I think that's what killed it. If they had released it in Japan (did they?) I suspect it would've done much better over there, but they're not a big enough market to make a dent.

        a few corrections.
        s/spiritual/vacuous/
        s/Japan/Anywhe re/
        s/better/worse/

  • sakaguchi (Score:3, Interesting)

    by vehn23 ( 684035 ) on Friday July 23, 2004 @05:00AM (#9777631)
    This is my favorite (only) square related story and no one ever believes me but.. Back in 2000, I was getting out of EQ after having played it since release. I was on the most JPN-heavy server and in the main (NA) uberguild. Anyways I was in the process of selling my account piece by piece on ebay and the winning bid for one of my better items had an interesting @square.com email. After a small amount of checking I discovered it was the head guy himself. I received payment from his assistant and transferred the item to him in game. There was a couple interesting things about him. One was that he was decked in armor he could not possibly have obtained (lustrous russet). The that he was a female woodelf bard. *sigh*

  • Hmmm... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Thedalek ( 473015 ) on Friday July 23, 2004 @05:27AM (#9777714)
    Rumors and heresay. Must be slashdot.

    In the linked article, it is stated that Amano and Inoue are likely collaborators: Not that they are or definitely will be linked to the company.

    And, strictly speaking, doesn't Kingdom Hearts count as a Final Fantasy property, what with all the characters it uses? I think it most likely that Squarenix plans on making a fourth Kingdom Hearts game.

    However, should they decide to do something else based around themes and characters from FFVII, a flat out update of the PS1 game to PS2 (or PS3) graphics and gameplay would be a welcome addition to the lineup. Especially if you could resurrect Aeris. Fanboys have been drooling over that idea for a few years now.
    • I'll beat the spelling-sticklers to the punch here: I meant "hearsay", not "heresay" or "heresey." Sorry.
    • no revisionist history, please
      • Reminds me that I don't know a single game where your job is to revise history...
      • It's not revisionist unless it depicts only the scope of the original. If it continues past the end of the original, anything goes.

        Besides, since when are video games considered "history?" How can any specific event be canon if the entire story can end with the death of the main character at any time? Mario dies on world 1-1, and so he never rescued the princess, and Super Marios 2, 3, World, Land, RPG, and 64 never happen (although Paper Mario could still happen, since that seems to be a different "Mar
        • It's not revisionist unless it depicts only the scope of the original. If it continues past the end of the original, anything goes.

          Uh, you yourself said that you were talking about a straight remake of FF7. Such a thing obviously wouldn't continue past the end of the original.

          Rob
      • Revisionist history? American fanboys are the only ones who see Aeris' death as history at all. In the Japanese version of the game, resurrecting Aeris was part of a late-game side quest. There are relics of this side quest left in the American version, like the materia allowing players to breathe underwater, but the side quest itself was replaced with the various Weapons to destroy. So, depending on how you define your Final Fantasy "history," Aeris was resurrected.
        • What? That's bullshit.

          There is no way to resurrect Aeris, either in the Japanese version of the game, or the American one. If there was such a way, then the fanboys would've discovered it a long time ago.

          It's true that there are a lot of artifacts of abandoned sidequests in both releases of the game (entire maps, hidden areas, etc.), but there wasn't any subtraction/alteration to the US port of the game as signifigant as what you mention.

        • Re:AERIS WILL NOT BE RESURRECTED! (Score:5, Informative)

          by GregChant ( 305127 ) on Friday July 23, 2004 @10:08AM (#9778989)

          From Coming to America: The making of Final Fantasy VII and how Squaresoft conquered the RPG market [stanford.edu] (Section Title: Let's just kill Aeris... Drama is everything):

          Still, players hoped for a "better" ending, and for quite a while a rumor circulated online that Aeris could be resurrected. It all started with a post on a newsgroup by an American player who played the Japanese game and completely misunderstood a scene at the end of the second disk to mean a failed resurrection of Aeris. Then somebody who went by the name of "Ben Lansing" saw the post and decided to post on the newsgroups claiming that he was a translator at Square USA during the production of the game, and had inside knowledge on how Aeris could be revived. He supported his claims with the supposed changes made to the US version of the game, such as the Underwater materia and the new FMV sequence which he said was that of Aeris' resurrection (it was actually for the Diamond Weapon monster). He also pointed to many places in the game where the relevance to the story was unclear (such as the sick man in Midgar) which he wove into his elaborate instructions for the revival process. The whole story was too complicated to describe in detail here, but the release of the American version finally revealed many of his claims to be false. Despite many inconsistencies in his claims, many people believed him, and there were even staunch supporters who claimed to have successfully revived Aeris using his instructions. Anyway, "Ben Lansing" eventually posted that the whole thing was just a hoax, and laughed at the general stupidity of American players.

          Joke's on you, buddy.

    • However, should they decide to do something else based around themes and characters from FFVII, a flat out update of the PS1 game to PS2 (or PS3) graphics and gameplay would be a welcome addition to the lineup. Especially if you could resurrect Aeris.

      Resurrecting Aeris would've completely broken FF7's story. If you'd thought about it, you would have realized that yourself.

      Rob
  • What's next, Final Fantasy XI: The Toilet Sheets? Final Fantasy XI: The Lunchbox? Final Fantasy XI: THE TOILET PAPER!?
  • What I don't understand is why they made the movie so different from final fantasy games. I mean, they had some similar type plot things going on, had a cid, and all that, but why the sci fi all of a sudden? If they had just done it in the style of the final fantasy games, it probably would have done loads better. Well, maybe not, I don't know if mainstream usa is ready for final fantasy yet. Actually, I hope it never does. If that happens, it'll be as bad as watching ring wraiths chasing a mcdonalds happy
    • Weren't the later FFs pretty much steampunk/scifi? The only incoherence I see is that it involved real locations. Oh, and that it didn't have random encounters, but I bet they'll remedy that in FF:AC

    • Re:Spirits Within (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Rallion ( 711805 )
      Well, maybe not, I don't know if mainstream usa is ready for final fantasy yet.

      Well, there's your answer. I wouldn't personally say that your statement is true, but I bet a lot of people think it is. Basically, all the fantasy elements were stripped out of the movie. No magic! The most fantastic things were a bunch of alien ghosts.

      I think a real Final Fantasy would have done fine, myself...certainly not worse. LotR (while I highly doubt a FF movie would approach those numbers) proved that America can suc
    • Why do so many people think that TSW was so different from the Final Fantasy games? It's a rehash of FF7, for crying out loud!

      Rob (Cid + Chocobos != Final Fantasy)
      • What i meant was the, and i'm not sure on the word for it, machina? Basically the fantasy setting with machines and swords. This was a strictly sci fi plot with some magic thrown in. I didn't see any pointy hair or sword swinging heros.

        It was a light themed final fantasy. World destroying, gaea, worlds with spirits. Great, that's like every other fantasy and sci fi theme out there. I guess it's hard to describe, or I don't want to spend time trying to do it, but if you examine the look of the world in the
        • I think the word you're looking for is "anime." It wasn't anime enough. And anime is a style, not a theme. TSW's theme was the same as that of any other FF.

          Rob
  • Ermmm... There's already a great Vana'diel timer available online. I use it regularly (and will be using it soon to time my RSE runs).

    Take a look Here [pyogenes.com] for a Mozilla/Gecko/DOM-Compliant version, or Here [pyogenes.com] for the updated version (sadly, only IE-Compatible right now).
    Credits to Pyogenes for the timer.

    Anyone on Kujata send me a /tell sometime (AlexisLucia).
    And now, the obligatory push for my LS site: The Magitek Army [slashdot.org]
    • Sorry, the LS site is magitekarmy.com [magitekarmy.com]
      Damned slashdot redirectors...

      Oh ya, and the 2 minute wait...

    • The great thing about this clock is the timers. There are four of them, one for each city, and each one can be set individually as either a countdown timer (up to 99:99:99) or a regular daily alarm clock, in either Earth or Vana'diel time. All can be enabled/disabled indvidually and plays the relevant city theme.

      It just rocks.

      And besides, it looks cool.

      --
      Kuroshiro
      Phoenix
      LS: ShirtNinjas [shirtninjas.com]

  • Why buy an FFXI Clock when you can use the Virtual Vana'diel Timer [manakun.com]?

  • Great (Score:1, Troll)

    by Pluvius ( 734915 )
    So the one game that should never have a sequel is going to have at least three of them, all at once.

    Thanks, Square! Just keep milking that cash cow while you drive away all your fans in droves!

    Rob
  • Why didn't people like that movie? It was great. It was a beautiful supernatural sci-fi fairy tale. Of course, if you were expecting a dumb action flick as those Hollywood churns out all the time, you're bound to be disappointed...

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