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PlayStation (Games) Role Playing (Games)

FFXIII Exclusivity Under Discussion 120

Posted by Zonk from the we-have-a-problem dept.
In an interview between a French-language newspaper and Sony Computer Entertainment France president Georges Fornay, he revealed that FFXIII's exclusivity is still under discussion. Gamespot reports, and attempted to check with Square-Enix about the reality of this situation. If the high-profile RPG's exclusivity is not a lock for the PS3, it could be a crushing blow for Sony's future plans. "The development costs of games have exploded, and it has become more difficult to have exclusives, outside of our own games. But we have for launch day [in France] 30 games, including MotorStorm, Resistance: Fall of Man, and Virtua Fighter 5. Moreover, we are expecting 200 games [for the PS3] by the end of 2007...As far as Final Fantasy XIII goes, I can tell you that the exclusivity is in discussion."
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FFXIII Exclusivity Under Discussion More

FFXIII Exclusivity Under Discussion

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  • I guess X was a big hit, but I don't think "final fantasy" resonates the way it did. I don't know if the franchise still guarantees a hit.

    I haven't played the latest (XII), but there's been a lot of crap games (X-2), media/merch crap (advent children, spirits within).

    I'd think another player would have toppled FF off the tip of the RPG mountain by now.

    I just don't see how a exclusive lock on final fantasy is as lucrative as it once was (like it was with VII).

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by malevolentjelly ( 1057140 )
      I think Final Fantasy is still very relevant. It's the watermark for which system will be the "J-Rpg System". That's a big deal to a large variety of gamers.

      This news, of course, comes as no surprise. Sony doesn't have the financial or install base to finance AAA+ super-titles like Final Fantasy. They're going to want a piece of 360's fat North American/European/Aus market share. Final Fantasy has a massive following in all these regions.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by stratjakt ( 596332 )
        Final Fantasy is like a genre unto itself, and like the FPS genre, has gotten so pigeonholed that it's marginalized a lot of its original fan base right out of playing it.

        It gets to the point that they can't innovate - the hardcore fanbase that's left expects certain things (common keyboard layout in FPS's, common spells based on "elements" in an RPG).

        I mean, the plot of any final fantasy game is, and has to be, exactly the same. The settings and characters change. But its still the same start in small to
        • I hope this isn't off-topic- but FFXII was a very redeeming game as far as the series goes, I recommend giving it a shot. :)

          I was not too impressed with FFVIII-XI, although I hold FFIX a little dear.

        • But its still the same start in small town, meet party members, ride chocobo, get airship, collect 8 things, fight end boss.
          So, what was the last Final Fantasy game you played? (I can't even remember collecting 8 things, that's more of a Zelda thing)

    • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I haven't played the latest (XII), but there's been a lot of crap games (X-2)

      Nothing like a uninformed rant on slashdot, eh? FF XII ranks by game review magazines roughly as high as FF VII. You would have known that if you weren't living under a rock. The Final Fantasy games are selling more than ever and an exclusivity lock has probably never been more valuable. Using X-2 and Advent Children to say the FF series is failing is sort of silly when FF VII, IX, X, and XII were all incredible successes.

      • Thanks for being the voice of reason and fact. I certainly hope you didn't post anonymously because you feared a karma backlash from idiots though. I'll assume you just don't have a /. account :)

    • Re:is Final Fantasy still relevant? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by 7Prime ( 871679 ) on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:40PM (#18450249) Homepage Journal
      You'd think that... but nope. FF12 was a huge success, wild acclaim, won many "game of the year" awards, and brought a lot of innovations to the genre. If you're not into JRPGs, it's kinda hard to understand, I know, but it's just the way things are.

      I like to view video game sequels as more along the lines of albums by a band or composer [rather than like movie sequels]: some groups just keep getting better, some drop off, some come back again. I even know quite a few that, in their old age, release the most original stuff of their career (King Crimson, for example, whome are nearing their 40th anniversary). The Final Fantasy team(s) really have shown that they have what it takes. I expect them to continue making benchmark-worthy games for at least another decade. For one thing, they're not really sequels, in the traditional sense, as much as a mini-genre, since they have no connecting universe, story or characters, besides a few camios. So the developers can, and do, make huge changes from game to game... sometimes more than a whole genre will do in the same period of time.

      Besides Dragon Quest, no single-player RPG has ever come close to the acclaim that the Final Fantasy series has. The "Tales" series is probably the next closest of the genre, which is getting more and more publicity in the US, but even that has a long way to go.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mgblst ( 80109 )
        release the most original stuff of their career (King Crimson, for example, whome are nearing their 40th anniversary)
         
        Hard to belive that the most original stuff of their career is not the first album, because as there career gos, that must have been pretty original (by definition).

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by 7Prime ( 871679 )
          Believe it. Actually, their first album really isn't all that original, it was just the most radio friendly. It's by far the most "status quo" of their albums. All the tracks are actual "songs", they're tonal, and use fairly standard instruments. Now, they're doing basically electro-acoustic art music mixed with some rock and jazz influences. Their albums are almost completely instrumental now, with a few songs here and there. They take a lot of harmonic influences from early 20th century neo-classical musi

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sciros ( 986030 )
      FFXII got stellar reviews for the most part and sold something like a million copies in one month.

      It's the franchise that I think helped the Playstation dominate the N64, and has sold very well regardless of game quality (though you can find enough fans of any FF game). In terms of "the RPG mountain," there are no JRPGs out there that are strictly better (Tales of ___ia are okay, Xenosagas are basically dirt, and everything else falls in-between). Sure, Bethesda and Bioware are the kings of "Western" RPGs

    • FFXII (Score:5, Informative)

      by phorm ( 591458 ) on Thursday March 22, 2007 @06:04PM (#18450639) Journal
      I would summarize it as: - Nicer battle system (more interactive, more realistic) - Lots of eyecandy - Poor transitions (from in-game to pre-rendered video, for example many boss attachs) However, it has these certain MMORPG overtones - Lots of repetitive tasks - Sidequests don't add much to the overall story value - Grind... And the plot is a bit lacking - Underdeveloped characters - Less believable characters - Pretty, but fluffy... However, the environment itself was rather nice. In the english version, the use of somewhat archaic language added somewhat to the game IMHO
      • I tend to agree. FF12 did some things extremely well, and other things very badly. It certainly shows that they took a lot of ideas from FF11. Personally I think they changed the gameplay too radically. My main beef was the change to the initiative system - instead of a character having an initiative gauge that built up, and upon filling the character was marked as 'ready' to perform an action immediately, with different actions having a different recovery time, they switched it to idle characters having to
        • The voice acting wasn't bad... I'd definitely have to say that the "olde english" flair added something to the environment, however then I got my GF into playing FFX.

          Some of the rendering is a little plasticy, but I'd have to say that while the character models are perhaps not as good as FFXII, the environment is in many cases a little better, the soundtrack is better, and the actual voice acting is definitely a step above.

          I remember playing KOTOR a few years back and thinking that a final-fantasy-style

  • I don't think I need to tell you... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:13PM (#18449891) Homepage Journal

    ...that the end of Final Fantasy console exclusivity (FF titles are on Nintendo's handhelds, and there's been PC versions of some games, but in general it's all Sony) would pretty much be the end of the Playstation 3. It's already suffering in the corner. People follow both companies and games, but the latter is more important at the end of the day. If you can play the same game for $100 less and have the same experience, which console are you going to buy?

    It seems to me that the two franchises that have been keeping Sony going are Gran Turismo and Final Fantasy. Turismo is their property, so they'll be able to hold that one. But if that's their only selling point, it's over. And since Sony is bringing out a $600 Blu-Ray standalone player, which is pretty much guaranteed to be a better player than than the PS3 no matter how good the PS3 is, that final non-game reason to buy a PS3 is going down the toilet if you don't also desire the gaming functionality.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by pl1ght ( 836951 )
      Dont forget God of War. But yeah losing FF would be huge. Altho gleaning from what was said that FFXIII is up in the air i think is a bit premature.

      • Altho gleaning from what was said that FFXIII is up in the air i think is a bit premature.

        Well, I would assume that squeenix threatens to go multiplatform every generation in order to get a good deal. And I would assume that such an utterance was to further that end... if it weren't from a sony exec.

        • Re:I don't think I need to tell you... (Score:5, Insightful)

          by 7Prime ( 871679 ) on Thursday March 22, 2007 @06:17PM (#18450805) Homepage Journal
          Not in the slightest. Square would have no way or reason to go multi-platform until now. FFX came out before the GameCube and Xbox even launched... what would they have gone to... back to the N64? No way, that's the one they ditched in the first place. The PS1/N64/Saturn generation was no contest, either. The N64 didn't have the media they needed, and the Saturn didn't have the robust 3D graphics processing they needed, Square had no choice. FF4, in its infancy, was designed with a patched NES engine. The SNES gave Square everything they needed in hardware. I guess they could have gone Sega... but their relationship with Nintendo was at their absolute peak.

          So no, there has never even been a choice, due to technical or marketing reasons, up until now. There would, therefor, be no reason for Square to "threaten" anyone to go multi, since noone would believe them.

          I can just hear the interchanges:

          Square: "Sony, give us a good deal on PS2 exclusivity"
          Sony: "or what? You're gonna go back to the N64?"
          Square: "...."

          Square-Enix: "Sony, give us a good deal on PS3 exclusivity"
          Sony: "or what? You're going to move over to the 360"
          Square-Enix: "That's about right"
          Sony: "....."

          • The N64 didn't have the media they needed, and the Saturn didn't have the robust 3D graphics processing they needed

            The only area in which the Saturn was deficient (besides installed base, which was a very important lack) was that the system had no 3d hardware support for transparency. It has almost twice the CPU power (2xSH-2 vs 1xR3k at similar clock rates) and a couple of publishers did transparency in software, as you can overlay 2d graphics on top of the 3d as usual. Since neither FFVII nor FFVIII use

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by 7Prime ( 871679 )

              Since neither FFVII nor FFVIII use much in the way of transparency, this solution would have been feasible for Square's use.

              This is incorrect. In fact, FFVII was one of the first times I noted the use of 3D, polygonal transparancy on a console. Think about all the magic effects, like the starburst-light sources that emmenate out from characters before they cast spells. Those are all fairly advanced forms of 3D transparancy, using animated textures that had featered alpha channels. That's just one example; i

              • pretty much all the spell animations had heavy use of 3D transparancy. Some were 2D sprites, but many were fully polygonal. The Saturn would have not been able to handle these...

                Care to back up that assertion?

                "The hardware also lacked light sourcing and hardware video decompression support. Nevertheless, when properly utilized, the dual processors in the Saturn could produce impressive results such as the 1997 ports of Quake and Duke Nukem 3D by Lobotomy Software, and later games like Burning Rangers wer

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by _xeno_ ( 155264 )

            That, and Sony kinda sorta killed support for FFXI on current PS2 models. I'm not sure Square Enix ever really forgave them for that.

            Plus FFXI is already cross-platform for the PS2 (with hard drive), Xbox 360 (with hard drive), and PC (with Windows). So they've had some experience going cross platform before. (Although given how crappy the FFXI port on the PC remains, I hope they've learned some lessons...)

            In any case, I think there's a very real chance that FFXIII could be released for the Xbox 360. It

            • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

              by 7Prime ( 871679 )
              Also, remember that FFVII and FFVIII were released on PC. I played both of them for the first time in that format, and aside from a few minor complaints, both worked great (the translation was, in fact, slightly improved in the PC version of FFVII).
      • God of War is a great franchise (just beat GoW II, much better than the first), but it doesn't have anywhere close to the power of a FF or a GT. Both of those games have sold several times as many copies as GoW.
    • Sadly you're right.

      So I'm going to go out on a limb and say I hope Sony wins this generation, or at least beats Microsoft. Don't care about position relative to the Wii. Why? I want BluRay. Lets just hurry up and get this format battle over with so we can get on with hacking it and be able to back up our harddrives on less than a brand new full stack of DVDs we just bought at Costco or CompUSA or wherever you get your $1x.xx after rebate pack of 100 dvds. Holding all my data on 10 discs as opposed to 100 so
      • Multilayer HD-DVD prototypes that store more data than Blu-Ray have been demonstrated by, IIRC, at least two companies. Of course, if Blu-Ray can go multilayer (not sure, to be perfectly honest) then the Blu-Ray may be ahead again, no idea. But Blu-Ray is not inherently superior once you get a disc format up to the same level - their contents are pretty much identical now.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by donaldm ( 919619 )
        Disk requirements to backup of a 320GB hard drive using a double sided disk (forget about a single sided disk). 1) CD - don't be silly, 2) DVD - 32 minimum, 3) Bluray - 6 minimum, 4) HD-DVD - 10 minimum. I will leave it to you to work out the cost but needless to say it is not going to be cheap. Now lets make it more interesting try backing up 1TB and your costs just went up three fold.

        It does not take much to work out that a CD is great for music, DVD is great for Standard Definition TV while Bluray or HD-

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mgblst ( 80109 )
        Holding all my data on 10 discs as opposed to 100 sounds like heaven.
         
        Is that really your idea of heaven. You seem to have some really misplaced values if you think having 10 discs instead of 100 is a really huge improvement. Why not just buy another harddrive, a HDD is fine for personal backup solutions, and then you only have 1 drive to get excited about.
    • I plan to eventually buy a PS3 for the new Ratchet and Clank game, assuming it's good, as well as for Flow.

      But you're right, I'd also buy one for Final Fantasy.

      And Gran Turismo is going into micropayment hell, so that's not a guaranteed win there, actually. I guess we'll see.

    • Re:I don't think I need to tell you... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by StikyPad ( 445176 ) on Thursday March 22, 2007 @06:31PM (#18451015) Homepage
      I don't think I need to tell you...

      that the end of Motorola processors would pretty much be the end of the Macintosh.

      Different argument, same logical fallacy [logicalfallacies.info]. There is more to the PS3 than the exclusivity of a single title (or set of titles), and if FF___ is multiplatform then buyers will simply use other metrics to make their decision. I don't particularly care about Halo - Combat Rehashed, so that wouldn't affect my decision. I wouldn't want to have to buy a console AND an HD drive, so that's a strike against the 360. I want a console with enough power that it still looks relevant in 2-3 years. I like that I can run Linux on the PS3. Of course, I'm not everyone, but those are some examples off the top of my head. The point is not that the PS3 is better/worse than the 360, merely that title exclusivity is not a console's only merit. Personally, I buy on hardware features/overall capability rather than a given title's availablility, but that's why I'm a PC gamer (when I game).
      • Everybody keeps mentioning another console. What about the PC? PC's have the graphics and numerical processing power. And, if current configurations aren't enough, people can always upgrade. Whatever happened to the games and gamers driving the hardware market?

        So the question is, would you buy a PS3 if games started migrating to the PC?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by CaseM ( 746707 )
        You, yourself, commit the fallacy of the weak analogy [logicalfallacies.info] and also failed to note that the GP's biggest problem was that of the false dilemna [wikipedia.org] because you were trying to be a high-horse nitwit instead of reading between the lines of the guy you cutting down.

        How about this analogy? "The end of OSX (or whatever flavor is the current OS for a Macintosh) would be the end of the Macintosh computer". It's not a perfect, but I think it's a fairer one than the chip/computer one you proferred. People buy consoles lar
    • I absolutely agree. I have been hoping and preying that FF13 would hit the 360, as that was the only game left on the PS3 making me crave one. If it truly does come to 360 my investment will be decided. Otherwise, I may only have a Wii until late in this generation when console prices are finally bottoming out.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by wezzul ( 813900 )
      The "exclusivity" deal that Sony had with the GTA games is probably the one that sold the most systems. Regardless of what you think of the Final Fantasy series of games, GTA games are famous, and played by all types, gamers and non-gamers alike. Even though they were eventually released on Xbox, I think the year long buffer is more than enough for many people to pick up a PS2 to play it *now*.

      • Even though they were eventually released on Xbox, I think the year long buffer is more than enough for many people to pick up a PS2 to play it *now*.

        Well, I just beat San Andreas on my Xbox [finally!] and while the control scheme sucked (switching weapons is much better with four shoulder buttons) I don't understand why you'd think that the PS2 is the logical console to buy to play them. I'd rather buy an Xbox if I had neither (I have both) because it's hackable and versatile.

    • FF doesn't matter as much as it did in the face of God of War, which has broader appeal and is simply an amazing game.
      • Broader appeal? Amoungst guys perhaps, but I guarantee you that given a choice between GoW and FF most women will choose the latter.

  • I bought a PSone just for FF9 (my first FF game). I bought a PS2 just for FFX but have now played FFX,FFX-2,FFXII. (I did subsequently buy some other games for each, and loved Katamari Damashii.) I saw the upcoming issues with PS3 and said I would not buy it, even if the next FF standalone was exclusive on it.

    Sony knows that FF has enormous draw but even that has limits. I hope Square does more with other platforms.

    • I can relate to that. I bought a PS1 largely just for FF7, having played the older chapters on NES/SNES back in the day. If I ever do buy a PS3, the exclusivity of Gran Turismo is likely to be the breaking point for me, assuming it lives up to the standard the previous games have set.

      The real question I have is why would an independent company sign an exclusivity agreement with a console manufacturer these days? If you are Square-Enix and have a more or less guaranteed blockbuster (FF13) waiting to com
  • The President of Sony France probably doesn't have very much to do with the decision making process regarding whether or not a game made by a 3rd party publisher stays exclusive.

    Besides, it's France. Why would we listen to them now?

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Rycross ( 836649 )
      They may not have much say in the decision, but being in such a high level executive position probably puts him in the communication chain to hear about such a decision. I'm sure that if there were problems with FFXIII exclusivity, that the issue would make the email rounds among high level executives. Its naive at best to suggest that because he's in charge of the French division that he would have no way of knowing.

  • This could mean a lot of things. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Rycross ( 836649 ) on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:19PM (#18449973)
    This could mean several things.

    1) FFXIII isn't exclusive, and Sony is now in talks to lock it in.
    2) FFXIII was exclusive, but they're considering taking it cross-platform, and Sony is trying to get them to stay the course.
    3) FFXIII is exclusive, but Microsoft/Nintendo are trying to convince them to port it.
    4) Insert more here.

    That being said, if they do defect, it would be a serious blow to Sony. Ace Combat has already switched over entirely (now 360 exclusive), and Devil May Cry is cross platform. The list of AAA exclusives is dwindling. I think they're sitting at, first party titles (God of War), Ratchet and Clank, MGS4, and FFXIII.

    If FFXIII defects, then that combined with Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon might be enough to start swaying the Japanese market. It would be a very strategic title for Microsoft to acquire. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Microsoft has been leaving suitcases full of cash at Square's doorstep if this turns out to be accurate.
    • Regarding 1), this generation I imagine it costs a lot more to lock in an exclusive. How much is it worth to give up 1/3rd of your profits?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Rycross ( 836649 )
        True, but given the strategic nature of the Final Fantasy franchise, I'm betting that (if talks are going on), large sums of money are being thrown around. I remember back in the N64 days, how huge a deal it was for Final Fantasy to defect to Playstation. Its not as influential as Dragon Quest in Japan, but it still has a lot of pull.

        If Square moves one of its main franchises to XBox, how long until a lot of other Japanese RPG developers add support to their games? If anything can get the XBox selling in
        • Does the 360 really offer much more than the PS3?

          What if S-E is looking at the Nintendo camp?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Rycross ( 836649 )
            Currently, XBox 360 installed user base is greater than PS3 and Wii combined, although this is likely to change in the next couple months with Wii's continued impressive sales and PS3 launching in Europe. XBox 360 is close to 10 million consoles worldwide at the moment, compared to Wii's roughly 6 million and PS3's 2.5 million.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by antek9 ( 305362 )
              ... and that's 10 Million shipped, not installed user base. Same for the PS3 number, probably.

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by 7Prime ( 871679 )
            I highly doubt it... although as an owner of a Wii and not of a 360, I would be very happy if that were the case.

            No, FF13 requires really really high resolution graphics, and even I am not about to argue that the Wii could handle anywhere close to that. With the lavish graphics we've been seeing (even if the bulk of which are pre-rendered), downgrading to the Wii's graphical capabilities would piss a lot of people off, and Square's long-time success has come from making fans happy. Now, it's not completely
            • I'll be honest, I havn't been following FF13 much, so I don't know how deep into production they are.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by 7Prime ( 871679 )
                Seeings as though these games take quite a few years to do (FF12 took four, but that was because of some legistical nightmares), and the fact that we're already seeing game engine screen shots, I think they're probably coming down the home stretch. That does not mean that it would be difficult to port. In fact, the basic coding is probably one of the easiest steps in making a modern RPG, and since both the PS3 and the 360 support the white engine, it would take virtually no time at all (in comparison to the

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by miro f ( 944325 )

            Does the 360 really offer much more than the PS3?


            an installed base of ~10 million?

            remember that Final Fantasy is still hugely popular in USA, Australia, Europe where the 360 is doing well.
            • 10 Million units shipped != 10 Million units installed

              Console sales trends need to be taken into account as well as existing userbase. Do you want to start developing for the most popular console today? Or the console that will be most popular when your game ships?

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by miro f ( 944325 )
                10 million shipped was in December. It's now March and I believe around 10 million have been sold.

                Also, judging by the fact that the 360 is still outselling the PS3 in USA, I don't see the PS3 overtaking the 360 in USA any time this year (which is when FFXIII should be released)

                porting the game should take very little effort, and expand the user base by quite a lot.
    • No complaints with what you've said. To get even a cross-platform "proper" Final Fantasy game for the 360 would be a massive boon for MS. Especially since (if I even had a PS3 or was thinking about getting one) I'd rather have the game for the 360. Achievements may not be much, but I can't see a PS3 version having anything over a 360 one. Perhaps more FMVs/music from using the Blu-Ray disc, but we all know the access speeds on them are horrendous so they'd just put all the data on the disc twice like they'v

      • Perhaps more FMVs/music from using the Blu-Ray disc, but we all know the access speeds on them are horrendous so they'd just put all the data on the disc twice like they've done with Oblivion (and others?) - so in the end I expect both systems would get the same game.

        Just a nitpick, if dual-layer DVDs have a capacity of ~8GB and a single-layer Blu-Ray disc has a capacity of ~25GB (with dual-layer holding ~50GB), then even if they cut the size of the capacity in half to speed up loading by burning all the as

        • Sources? Sadly not. My excuse is I read many games news websites every day and can't be expected to remember them all - really I just have a bad memory for where I read things.

          Other games, not sure as I implied - however I know that l33t hax0rs checked out the Resistance: Fall of Man Blu-Ray and it was full of empty "padding" data to fill the disc, as well as everything being on the disc twice (I believe). Apparently the only reason it needed to be on a Blu-Ray over an DVD was that the textures are all unc

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Rycross ( 836649 )
          Well, I have a friend whos working on Uncharted, and basically, yeah they will replicate data sometimes to allow them to stream it all in one chunk. The less seeking the BDROM has to do, the more bandwidth they can get out of it. Which is not to say that they're primarily using the extra space for that. A lot of it is filled up by extra texture maps and higher resolution source material.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antek9 ( 305362 )
      No. It only would start swaying the Japanese market if it became Xbox360 exclusive (if at all). The higher price tag on the PS3 is giving Japanese gamers headaches just as it is to gamers in the West (even if it's considerably cheaper in JPN than everywhere else), but no-one I know in Japan would even consider buying that Microsoft thing.

      A (slightly) more earnest approach to backwards compatibility (combined with an indefinitely more significant back catalogue) comes to mind. Add faith in a brand. I figure

  • Think I just felt the earth shake... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by 7Prime ( 871679 ) on Thursday March 22, 2007 @06:02PM (#18450615) Homepage Journal
    ...nope, that was Sony stock falling.

    But seriously, I'm not in the least bit surprised. In fact, I've been expecting FF13 to go cross-platform for quite some time now. Square has more reason to go cross-platform, now more than ever before. When they were with Nintendo, they were pretty tight, and were more intimately familliar with their hardware design. They switched to Sony only because Nintendo screwed them with the N64. FFX came out long before the XBox or GameCube, and even FF12 was in progress while those consoles were in their infancy. And up until now, there hasn't been any direct competition with Sony that revolved around the exact same user-base. That's changed... and we have two very similar consoles, with similar (or at least potentially similar) install bases. The fact that Square has already jumped ship on many other titles, makes me think they're not adverse to doing so with any... and it just seems the safest, and most ecconomical, to do so.

    There's only one line of reasoning as to why they would be better off remaining exclusive. That is that if the PS3 were to fail, the resistance to the 360 in Japan may not simply go away over-night... meaning NO ONE would have a system capable of buying and playing FF13 on. If they were to port FF13 to the 360, the Japanese may simply ditch the series as well as the PS3, and go completely over to the Wii. Still, in the US, where Final Fantasy is the strongest, porting FF13 to the 360 would generate enormous sales, enough to counter any strange occurences that Japan might provide.

    I gave FF13 a 75% chance of going over to the 360, back in November... this news raises that to about 90%.

    It's going to go, let's just sit back and watch the fireworks.

    • If they were to port FF13 to the 360, the Japanese may simply ditch the series as well as the PS3, and go completely over to the Wii.

      It doesn't make sense that anyone would give up on FF because it's available on more systems. I don't think anyone in Japan thinks so lowly of the 360 as to assume any game associated with it is trash. Indeed, I'd argue the opposite--I think it would hurt the Wii to stand out as the only system of its generation that can't support FF. Interesting thoughts, though.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by 7Prime ( 871679 )
        Well, here's my thoughts. There are quite a few people (even people here in the US that I know) that are buying the PS3 specifically for FF13. If FF13 comes out on more than one system, they no longer have an incentive to buy a PS3. However, the 360 does not market itself well to the Japanese, and it tends to leave a sour taste in their mouth. In "putting off" buying a PS3 for FF13, they may very well just eventually decide to skip over it. But you might be right, in that the Wii probably wouldn't benefit f
  • Final fantasy games are starting to become mini franchises, with at least 3 variations of XIII planned: the standard, epic XIII, VS XIII for MMORPG, and a portable called Agito (for phones at the moment). The whole thing is called Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII. The VS title would most likely be for any thing that can handle it, including PC and possibly more consoles. The exclusivity may be just for VS, or perhaps if they are considering a port of VS they are starting to think about doing t
  • I suspect the nature of the talks isn't really likely to land FF13 on the 360. It's more likely square is waiting till sony realizes square has their nuts in a vice and can squeze for all the money they want on this exclusivity deal.
  • I'm just curious... this is a blow that could potentially mean the end of a console line. Sure, it isn't official, but even the fact that it's in question is pretty big gaming news. Why is it not a full post?
    • Because right now it's still in the rumor incubator. This is a post regarding a translation from a French Sony executive speaking about Final Fantasy XIII. If it was coming from someone in Square-Enix or Sony Japan it'd be a bigger news item. This rumor has been floating around since before yesterday.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by 7Prime ( 871679 )
        Yeah, but top execs, no matter what country they're from, are all privilage to all the pertinant information surrounding the company. This isn't just speculation, it's someone who we KNOW is "in the know", making a statement... that he probably wasn't supposed to make. Ooops. Still, this isn't like a rumor like, "someone who will remain annonymous but is supposedly a reputable source told someone else who then told a web magazine that FF13's exclusivity is in question". Seeing this guy's status in the compa
        • I get what you're saying. It just seems like a lot of the news I've heard lately about Sony or Nintendo is coming out of their Euro branches, even when the product under question doesn't directly pertain to those regions. Case in point was the DS Headset which was confirmed for US release by NOE. Maybe there's a power play going on with the Euro branches for more respect from the North American and Japanese divisions?

          Regardless, the timing of this rumor is good. This is hot on the heels of the Ace Comba

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by 7Prime ( 871679 )
            I think you're onto something with there being a powerplay here. Remember the whole Wii region coding outburst? Reggie Fils-Aime "confirmed" that Wii discs would be region free, and had no disagreement from Japan. A few days later, however, the the CEO of Nintendo of France made a public outbust as to the fact that Reggie was full of it, and that there would be region encoding. If I remember correctly, the mothership put it to rest by saying he was incorrect, and that there would be no region coding, to his
            • I thought the Wii IS region locked?

              Regardless, I know Nintendo has been making attempts to give Europeans a fairer treatment by giving them first dibs on some game titles occasionally. Of all the divisions to let slip a Final Fantasy departure, the Europeans are in the best position of the group. Being last in line to get the PS3 they knew what the ultimate result was going to be having seen the launch go less than smooth both in Japan and in the US. Whether or not Final Fantasy was an exclusive, they kn
  • I *despise* Sony nowadays and keep saying I'll never buy a PS3. FF13 would come close to swaying me to the dark side (providing FF12 gets exciting... I'm probably half-way through and it's failed to do so thus far), but I've been hoping, praying and begging for S.E. to bring it to another platform - fingers are suitably crossed.
  • I like how when I was reading the text and trying to distinguish if that was three III's or two II's or four IIII's and I realized that the title for Final Fantasy is now becoming like the games in the franchise.
  • So where does the rumored FF VII remake fit in with all this? Back before launch it was rumored that this was a pet project at square, FFVII with PS3 graphics. If they do wind up making this and if it goes cross platform, as well as FF XIII, that may be the last straw for me. I'm happy with my Wii, but there are so many kickass games on the 360 now... Well, ill wait till the built in HD-DVD version comes out.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by DarkJC ( 810888 )
      As far as I know any rumors were squashed with the fact that it was "just a tech demo". I wouldn't hold your breath for the HD-DVD 360 either, although a new and improved one is probably coming soon, it won't have HD-DVD built in.
  • It just so happens that the console which had the FF main series exclusively, has always won the console war. Square must be really good at picking the winning team eh?
  • I remember the SNES days. After hearing that Nintendo is developing the "Dolphin", I quickly anticipated the next Final Fantasy on it. It even had a tech demo of 3d FFVI characters. Then, when I heard that the PS1 was getting FFVII, I was shocked. It was so shocking that I had to save up money for two systems instead of one. By the way, I bought more PS1 games than N64 mainly due to the RPG selection. The only N64 games I had are the 1st party games and Golden Eye (btw, kicked ass back in the day).

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