Final Fantasy XIII

[Sheikah]

Thing is though FF12 got RAVE reviews, the only reason why it didn't sell as well as the PSX ones could be that fans didn't like the change, they want to stalemate the series to minor improvements and that's just wrong. I welcome the change and I'll welcome more changes that appear in the FF games. Making each FF Game different is what makes them more exciting.

 

Sure, FFXII had one major change, that being that the story was complete shit and the characters barely ever even spoke to one another (I don't recall, for instance, Penelo and Basche even engaging in conversation). Seriously, though, the battle system was still pretty similar to the old FF games... the fact you could move around in battles gave the idea of freedom, yet the ATB was still there filling up. And even if you did try move away from an attacking enemy, they could still land hits on you. The movement part in battles was pretty much a farce - actual movement played very little part, with the ATB system still in place (just that you waited for the bar to continuously refil to have the game automatically launch your attack).

 

Seriously, FFXII is one of the most overrated games I have ever played, bar maybe FFVII, and this is coming from someone who has played a hell of a lot of FF games. Most of the people who loved FFXII that I know hadn't played many, or indeed any, FFs.

 

In FF12's case it was too little too late. Other RPG's, now have better battle systems and open world gameplay. Look at TOS or WOW.

 

"Better" is completely opinion though - and considering FF sells so well, you might expect that people prefer the battle system of FF games.

 

Crisis Core was good though but they need to get that on console. Was pretty linear fromw hat i played too. I think SE need to do more than just catch up they need to be leaders.

 

Final Fantasy is already the world's leading RPG series, so no idea what you're talking about tbh.

 

Doesnt work that way. I am sure they do well as FF is still a big name but it has more to prove this time round. Previous 360 JRPG got alot of buzz too but they flopped hard. SE better 360 sales are good because now it needs to offset afew PS3 sales.

 

Actually, I think you'll find it does work that way. FFXIII coming to 360 can be broken down into this:

 

- Good for Square Enix and the FFXIII game

- Bad for Sony.

 

There is absolutely no loss of profit for S-E from this deal - not only did they probably get paid something just to put the game on 360, they also get sales from the 360 version. To reiterate, anyone with a PS3 who wanted to buy this game still will buy this game, despite it going to 360. This is a completely win-win situation for S-E.

[Domstercool]

Each to their own then, but I've played a lot of FFs and enjoyed FF12. Certainly better than FF9, for me anyway, but alas it's all opinions.

 

Certainly no loss for S-E but still fans will only get the complete FF 13 universe story on PS3 and mobile (eww)

[Ramar]

Certainly no loss for S-E but still fans will only get the complete FF 13 universe story on PS3 and mobile (eww)

 

I don't like the sound of this whole universe nonesense. When I play any Final Fantasy I care only for the characters involved in the game. It's hard to explain but alternate paths, other worlds, I don't have time for, I don't understand the strategy behind it. Personally I like what I've seen of Versus, but I think it will confuse some consumers, when say a mum walks into the store and sees two versions, she's gonna be confused bat shit. And really whats the deal with two games, who can seriously get into two decent RPGs at one time?..

[Domstercool]

I personally love the idea. It makes the planet a more complete world, giving it a huge back history. It's the same with Suikoden. I love how Suikoden games are always set in the same planet, just at different times and locations. It has such a immersive world because of it ,making it one of the better rpg series on the market.

 

I really can't see a negative behind that. People who play Suikoden will see that and know.

 

http://www.suikosource.com/

[Sheikah]

Its now World of Warcraft. Big Asian base as well. In Japan Dragon Quest outsold FFX and XII. On PSP Monster Hunter outsold FF(Crisis Core wasnt bad form what i tried out). The FF franchise needs a refresh in the vein of RE4 and MGS4.

 

MMORPG isn't the same as RPG. MMORPGs cater for different needs...mainly to fill a hole in people's life, and to give them something to do (one huge grind, typically). As far as the RPG genre goes, FF is the daddy. I frankly couldn't care less about MMORPGs anymore (after a FFXI stint)...they typically just upscale the maps compared to a non-online game, make the experience required for levels a thousand times greater, and have less gameplay, no or poor voice acting, a story that is comparable to a nursery rhyme and usually are full of complete assholes. The fact it takes so long to gain anything results in more people subscribed for a longer time.

 

 

This is where you are wrong. Compromising the vast majority of your current audience for a non existant minority (360) is negative. Hardly any gamer gives a damn about company profits unless they are shareholders or work for the company. Certainly after these moves(including FFXIII) i'd rather SE not make a profit. At the end of the day most of us get worse and delayed games thanks to SE's greed.

 

How is the vast majority compromised? Sadly, this is where you are wrong. People might not like it going to the 360, but there is no way in hell that people who want to buy it for the PS3 will no longer choose to buy it because of S-Es choice to release it on another console. That's just really retarded. That would be like shooting yourself in the foot.

 

Cast your mind back to a game series called Grand Theft Auto. Remember when that started coming out on 360 too? People still chose to buy GTA games, and not just that, the sales skyrocketed. You could say that the market was there on the 360 too, but at the end of the day if people really did 'lose their confidence' in Rockstar for releasing the game on another console, you wouldn't have expected such large sales on PS consoles still. Silly reasoning.

 

And why should only shareholders care if a game reaches a larger audience? If a game sells more copies and reaches more people, generally speaking S-E may focus their efforts and more resources into future FF games, meaning win-win all round.

[Gizmo]

At the end of the day they have clearly made their intentions clear that they are not in the business of getting games out to players, but getting moneyhats. This is essentially rewarding a company for making the wrong decisions that go against the interest of gamers.

 

They aren't in the business of getting games out to players?

 

Surely putting it on two consoles shows that they ARE trying to get it to more people?

 

I seriously don't get how you can argue it going to 360 is a bad thing in ANY way.

[Hero-of-Time]

At the end of the day they have clearly made their intentions clear that they are not in the business of getting games out to players, but getting moneyhats.

 

So by putting the game on 2 consoles they arent getting the game out to players?

 

I really dont get this at all, I mean why kick off because a game is coming to another console? Sure if it was coming at exactly the same time as the PS3 version but with extras I can understand people getting upset but it isnt. All of this hate for S-E is exactly what happened with Capcom when they announced DMC4 as a multiformat title and it didnt hurt them.

 

Its not exactly as if FF has been a Sony exclusive all of its life either. I mean it did start out on the Nintendo consoles and even in recent years it has branched out to various handhelds.

 

At the end of the day if you like the FF games you will buy it whatever the console its on and if people dont buy it just because its multiformat then they are muppets and will likely be missing out on a great game and story.

[Sheikah]

Thats because FFXI was not good. WOW on the other hand was really good. Infact in the early days many on WOW would make fun of FFXI and Final Fantasy in general.

 

I've played WoW (as I have many MMORPGs)...like most MMORPGs, it really is garbage. The quality of the game clearly suffers due to the level grind and story compared to an offline RPG.

 

 

Well SE have said the PS3 release will be exactly the same as the 360 version save for disks. 360 has several SE games exclusive or timed exclusive right for 360 now. But i suppose you will just say they are getting games out to as many people as possible lol. If that isnt ignoring or compromising your userbase then i dont know what is.

 

Example of compromising the userbase:

 

"Sony announces FFXIII will no longer appear on PS3.

 

Example of not compromising the userbase:

 

"Final Fantasy XIII to also go to Xbox".

 

 

One stops PS3 owners playing FFXIII, one doesn't. As long as people that were originally planning to buy the game on the PS3 can still buy the game on the PS3, the 'userbase' is not compromised. People are not so petty that they will refuse to buy a game because it went on another platform. That's just daft.

 

At the end of the day they have clearly made their intentions clear that they are not in the business of getting games out to players, but getting moneyhats. This is essentially rewarding a company for making the wrong decisions that go against the interest of gamers.

 

Getting your product to more people and making more money go hand-in-hand, silly. Any business exists to make money, but does so by getting it to more people. The money they make can then be used on future games.

 

 

What are you talking about? 360 has a larger JRPG audience? Are you working for one of MS's online viral teams?

 

I never said the 360 had a larger JRPG audience, so I have no idea why you responded with that.

 

So i suppose its bloody good that everyone should get a lesser experience to gain just 1 extra customer

 

Oh yeh...one more customer. Now you know you are talking shit.

[Gizmo]

Issues with reading? or just too dumb?

 

As said above, What 'two consoles' are there for SE games outside of FFXIII? Most are on 360 not PS3.

 

 

 

And how many people would that be?

 

 

 

I guess you dont get it but 360 sales arent exactly why 'any of SE's games' are on the platform.

Nobody is debating the fact that it's bullshit that Microsoft have paid for timed exclusives (like Eternal Sonata, etc).

 

But what has that to do with FFXIII?

 

Also there is no evidence to suggest that FF will gain from this.

 

 

The evidence to suggest it will gain is that it will reach a larger audience. Simple math:

 

Total PS3 userbase < Total PS3 userbase + EU Xbox userbase + NA Xbox userbase

So i suppose its bloody good that everyone should get a lesser experience to gain just 1 extra customer(or lose 1 customer judging by how most FF buyers may well just be the same people with different consoles anyway). Seems like a good match for MS's universally apraised customer service.

In what possible way is it going to be a "lesser experience" just because it's on Xbox?

[Gizmo]

Then you agree

 

On Microsoft's paying for exclusives, yes.

 

 

They why not release on the Wii, Mac and PC with that lovely logic?

 

I think they should release on PC, yes. Wii I'm not so sure about; there are big differences. The PS3 / 360 difference has been proven to be negligible. See: GTAIV, DMC4, SC4,CoD4, etc (lots of 4's )

 

Well if the game doesnt take advantage of PS3's strengths than of course its not the experience it could have been, sadly. I ams ure many will argue this.

 

Like what, Sixaxis controls? So far as I can tell the PS3's strength is that and BluRay (and tbh I don't really like Sixaxis stuff 99% of the time anyway), while the Xbox's is online infrastructure. So as far as I can tell, it is taking advantage of the PS3's strengths.

[Calza]

I think the point Choze was trying to make earlier on was that Square Enix are releasing Star Ocean 4 and Infinite Undiscovery on Xbox as exclusives while the PS3 is only getting FF XIII Versus exclusively. Though I could have just picked up on it completely wrong.

 

I wonder how many disks it will be on 360, do PS3 games come on dual layer blu-rays or just single?

[Domstercool]

MGS4 was the first Dual Layer Blu-Ray

[M-PG71C]

Hold up a bit there, Star Ocean is looking to be more of a timed-exclusive than anything. SE has neither confirmed nor deny that a version is coming to the PS3. Now Infinite Undiscovery has been confirmed as an exclusive for the 360, no PS3 version is coming. In fact, it is the only SE exclusive for the system, everything is either timed or hitting the PS3 at the same time.

 

I don't think owners of either system should be worried though, SE games are going to hit both platforms moving forward since the userbase is roughly the same, as PS3 sales continue to speed up and 360 sales continue to slow-down, they will both end up on equal footing. The only reason MS got these SE games to begin with is through money, like any other company! :P

 

As for how I feel about it, who cares? I'm getting a PS3 even still because I like their first party content better than MS's and SE games are still hitting the platform so no real loss and I'm sure many PS3 owners feel the same.

[Jon]

Then you agree

 

 

 

 

 

They why not release on the Wii, Mac and PC with that lovely logic?

 

 

 

 

 

Well if the game doesnt take advantage of PS3's strengths than of course its not the experience it could have been, sadly. I ams ure many will argue this.

 

FF games have historically taken long enough to develop for one console over the years, releasing them accross all platforms would insure we'd all be dead before it was released.

[nightwolf]

This looks good and I'm glad they have decided to carry on the final fantasy series, although I was very disappointed by 12, stupidly disappointed after looking forward to it.

 

They better not cock this one up too! :P

 

FF has always been for sony, I doubt they'd release it onto the wii, that'd be interesting concept. I can't see what the big deal is with it, xbox 360 has quite a few exclusive games to it *cough* fable 2 *cough*

 

Although this now means I have to go and buy both a ps3 and an xbox360..damnit.

[darksnowman]

...FF has always been for sony...

 

I'm sorry but I just have to disagree with this!

[Wesley]

I'm really happy about this. I was thinking of buying a PS3 for this and around two other titles. Now not so sure. I'm glad to say the least.

[Calza]

 

Choze?

[Daft]

 

Choze?

 

Amazing. Forwarded to everyone at Square.

[Dante]

Today at its DK Sigma3173 Event, Square Enix made a series of announcements, including revealing the March release of a Final Fantasy XIII demo. However, those on hand were also impressed by a video shot by series designer Tetsuya Nomura which offered some raw behind-the-scenes insights into the game's development.

 

The video started off with an inside look at Square Enix's internal studio and its overall development environment. However, the scene quickly switched to a meeting where developers spoke bluntly about Final Fantasy XIII in general--and the Xbox 360 version in particular. The game's announcement was a major surprise at the E3 Media & Business Summit last month, where producer Yoshinori Kitase held a roundtable--but left many questions unanswered.

 

In the video, director Motomu Toriyama didn't beat around the bush when Nomura asked him questions about the 360 FFXIII. Starting off, he reconfirmed that, "We haven't changed the direction of the development. We're making the PS3 version first, and then porting to the 360 later." That means that since the game will be released simultaneously on both platforms in North America and Europe, the PS3 release will be held back in those territories until the 360 version is complete.

 

Furthermore, Toriyama also revealed that, as of July 29, his team hasn't yet received the tools needed to begin work on the Xbox 360 version of FFXIII. "I'm telling them to not think about the Xbox 360 right now," he said. "We can think about it after the development kits arrive."

 

The designer also reassured PS3 owners that the game's quality would not suffer due to the 360 port. "We aren't going to change any specifications [of FFXIII] because of the multi-platform announcement," he declared. "Right now, we're fully concentrating on the PS3 version."

 

Nomura and Toriyama also debunked rumors that a PC version of FFXIII is in development. They explained the confusion arose from a misunderstanding when producer Yoshinori Kitase mentioned at E3 that Square Enix is working on a PC project. "We've always been developing on PCs," laughed Nomura. "In fact, I've been doing so since Final Fantasy VI."

 

Judging by the video, development on FFXIII seems to be in full swing, and the remaining character designs are on schedule to be finalized in October. The voice cast has already been chosen, and it will be partially announced at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show, also in October.

 

Unfortunately, a playable FFXIII demo is unlikely to be at TGS 2008, which is Japan's biggest game expo. In the video, the developers openly complained when talking about the bonus demo disc that'll come with the Blu-ray disc of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children in March. Considering how long it takes to mass-produce it onto Blu-ray discs, Square Enix must finish the demo by December in order to ship it out with the computer-animated film.

 

Luckily, the wait looks like it will be worth it, as Toriyama promised the demo will be quite large. Though he didn't divulge many details, he mentioned that the demo takes place a little bit before the game's current trailers, with a vast and complex three-dimensional map.

[Mundi]

 

Choze?

 

This guy is the internet´s most elaborate troll.

He´s some guy from Something Awful, he´s made lots of these kind of videos

[Hero-of-Time]

Heres some news from the Famitsu SE special.

 

- The FFXIII demo disc included with FFVIIACC will be a PS3 disc, it's not on a standard blu-ray movie disc. This is good news for people with Euro PS3s, since it'll probably mean the demo will work even if the movie is region locked.

 

- There're 3 realtime screens of Agito XIII from the trailer, including a screen of Odin.

 

- 3 pages worth of FFXIII screens and stuff, about 20 screens. There are realtime screens too apparently.

 

- The FFXIII demo will be from the opening part of the game, and will be longer than FFVIIAC (longer than 90mins? ).

 

- 4 pages on Versus, about 10 screens all realtime.

 

- The world in Versus XIII worships a Shinigami and the Shinigami is designed by Amano

 

- The cars and clothing seen in the trailers so far will probably change in design for the final game

 

- The morale of the team is really high!

 

OMG AGITO XIII:

 

- They moved it to the PSP because they couldn't wait for cellphones to get more advanced

 

- The battle will be heavy on action but still sort of turn based. It will use an advanced version of Crisis Core's high speed ATB system.

 

- Crisis Core was 1 player, but this time there will be multiple characters in the party.

 

- Right now it supports Infrastructure multiplayer for up to 3 players.

 

- Summons are part of the character growth system, and can also be controlled by players after summoning.

 

- The game will support both Ad-hoc and Infrastructure.

 

Heres some scans of the magazine.

 

[Daft]

I love the look of Versus. I like the suits and the cars. And the shade of goth/emo that is on everything.

[chocoboko]

Yea, have to agree with Daft. I'm more looking forward to Versus than to 13.

I just like the atmosphere there.

[flameboy]

So Versus is more action orientated right? Cos at the moment I am very preferring the look of it and am enjoying crisis core which is less turn based, so perhaps I will enjoy versus more? Imagine if versus ended up better than 13, microsoft would be gutted.