Dell Partners with Square 307
zenintrude writes "Gameforms is reporting that Square has signed a deal with Dell that will secure new Dell computers to be shipping with Final Fantasy XI pre-installed. This comes on the heels of another story involving Square partnering with nVidia, in which certain aspects/details in Final Fantasy XI will only be able to be accomplished with a geForce4 card."
Re:First Post. :) (Score:2, Insightful)
Well, there are certain things a GF4 can do that older Radeons, etc, just can't do. They don't have the feature set. In that case, I don't mind so much if they use those features and then say "best with GF4" or something. But if they go out of their way to use pixelshaders on the GF4 and not support the equiv functionality on the Radeon 9700, for instance, that's just fucking shitty and people should boycott Square and Nvidia if that comes to pass. The last thing we need is another 3dfx Glide situation where games are pretty much card-specific.
If you can't beat em with technology (Score:5, Insightful)
It's the same way with Sony. If you can't win with better games, win with more money and an unstoppable juggernaut of a marketing department.
Dude... (Score:5, Insightful)
But seriously, this could be a good thing and it could also be a bad thing. If FFXI gains enough popularity to generate the fanbase it needs in Japan, a US port (to PC) would be almost guaranteed. But, considering that nobody wants to pay (monthly) for FFXI after buying it, is giving it away free going to make people want to buy it? I think not. Take Everquest, for example-- you can pick up a jewel case copy for $10, a huge slash over what it was back in the day. I did this. And I stopped paying for it two months later, when I found that I don't like that style of game. If anything, it's going to get a huge fanbase for the first month or so and then everyone will quit.
Of course, that's all just my speculation, being a typical FF fan. See sig.
Re:Connections (Score:2, Insightful)
They understand! (Score:1, Insightful)
It took someone long enough to understand how to deal with the MMORPG market, and it took Square to do it.
The thing is, rpgs of this sort are -addictive-. There isn't alot of gameplay to them, never has been. (I hold this true of games like NWN and the like; you don't actually -play- the game, you -experience- it. And this is addictive. It's also why I refuse to play them anymore.)
So what are they understanding? That 'Hey! You can give the game away for free and charge for subscription, like AOL cds!' If there's very little cost of entry, you're more likely to try it and, thus, be addicted by it. Behold, instant cash cow.
I'm just wondering why it took so long for companies to figure this out, seeing as how I've read speculation on this crap for years...
Counter-proposal (Score:5, Insightful)
What? Don't think it'll sell? So quit trying to port XI.
Re:Square is loosing... (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm just upset they're abandoning the installed FF fanbase in favor of a 'trendy' MMORPG. What made the series great was the story lines, characters, the single player experience.
Now instead of leveling up to track down Sephiroth or defeat the Ultimate Weapon, I get to have Jimmy McNutsack in his parents basement in Iowa call me a 'big gay fag homo'.
I swear to god, those things are just irc chatrooms with 3d avatars, and less intelligent conversation.
You guys are pathetic (Score:2, Insightful)
The reason Square is making so many 'exclusive' deals with Final Fantasy XI is because they want this product to be a success. MMORPGs, whether the cheap ****s who won't and never will float the monthly fee will admit it, are quit good and successful games. If this is a quality MMORPG, Square could have themselves a big money maker on their hands. Not only that, but an MMORPG that is insanely popular is a great way to get consumers interested in your other console games. Even better, its a good way to convince them to buy the console where near all Square games live.
( Exception being for portable Squaresoft games. No portable Sony system. )
Square knows it needs as many people playing its MMO as possible. More subscriptions means more monthly cash, more 'friends' of possible subscribers online, etc. . They don't want barriers such as 'which gaming system you prefer' to stand in the way of addicting you to their game. ( especially with that nice monthly fee
Basically, this story means that a great number of people will play this game purely because it comes with their new Dell computer. It ensures a greater online gaming population of players, and more subscriptions for Square. Its a smooth move.
Re:Why won't they move on? (Score:2, Insightful)
Parasite Eve? I've had numerous hours playing, but more importantly, replaying the first of that series. As for the second one, it's still a good play.
FFT? Okay the name is the same, but the play is much different and welcome to replay.
There are also a couple of other RPG titles that I've yet to buy/play (Salsa(?) Frontier, etc).
So, I'd have to say that they put out more than just FF games and those ones are quite good.
How Lame (Score:2, Insightful)
That must be part of the "real operating system" option--the one that Dell doesn't offer.
Re:Counter-proposal (Score:3, Insightful)
Now, two factors are diffent. One, this is MMORPG, a genre that has proven itself to have worked best on the PC platform in the past. Sure, there have been console MMORPG's like PSO, but nothing so widely successful as Everquest, for example. Also, as an MMORPG, it is absolutely critical for its sucess to have as rapid growth of users as possible. With standalone games, the overall sales are not affected so much by how many people get it as soon as possible, but the quality of a MMORPG is dependent on a large user base, so if it starts slow, it would hamper later sales badly.
Secondly, this will be a simultaneous release. Unlke the PC ports, people can immediately pick their favorite, most convenient platform without suffering a time penalty, so the sales figures will more accurately and fairly reflect the viability of Square games on the PC versus Playstation. This may be important to show that PC ports are not a waste and bring efforts to port FFXII immediately.
Of course, in my opinion, FFXI has a high probability of failure. Even if executed perfectly on technical terms, the Final Fantasy series fanbase is not necessarily big on MMORPG. I know I like standalone games better, because playing MMORPGs put certain pressures on me that I don't want to deal with. I don't feel like I can play at my own pace, sometimes for the best affect I have to coordinate my playtime with other, and I like a cohesive story that comes to some sort of definitive close. Those differences between traditional FF and MMORPG may cause FFXI to fail, if MMORPG and standalone are sufficiently exclusive communities. I know several people who plan to skip XI because they have no love of MMORPG, and also know several MMORPG players who aren't impressed in the least bit by the name 'Final Fantasy'. Of course, this is only among the people I know, so I have no idea what the true picture is..