300°

Gamasutra Q&A: Square Enix On Final Fantasy XIII's Move To Xbox 360

Following the surprising announcement at the Microsoft press conference that former presumed PS3 exclusive, Final Fantasy XIII, will be coming to the Xbox 360 in Europe and North America, Square Enix held its own press conference/Q&A session at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Square Enix corporate executive Shinji Hashimoto and FFXIII producer Yoshinori Kitase fielded questions from the press.

Kitase is best-known for producing Final Fantasy VII, though he has worked on many games in the series, including FFVIII, FFX, and Dirge of Cerberus: FFVII, among others.

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gamasutra.com
kevin11226179d ago

something still doesnt add up, so the localing for the ps3 version will be the same length as to create the 360 version. So it pretty much seems they are holding back the ps3 version for the us and europe to coincide with the 360 launch which sucks.

hazeblaze6179d ago

I think this is the case too. Because I expect them to have issues porting the game to 360 if they are building it around blu ray/cell/rsx first and foremost.

Wildarmsjecht6179d ago

I think another site said that if they need to, they would hold back the PS3 version to match the 360 release, but it shouldn't be too long..which is funny about their simultaneous plans when Last Remnant is getting a 360 timed exclusive. Hum...I'm slightly confused, but not surprised at SE...not at all.

funkysolo6179d ago

I wonder how much M$ paid for that because square is going to lose alot of potenial money so M$ has to cover. I guess there will be alot of people importing this game to the U.S. if you speak japanese since it's going to be years before the U.S. release

catchnvampire6179d ago

All this official face is BS.
They simply sold out......Simultaneous launch would have been MS first criteria for the pay out...

If the platform situation and getting the game across the large number of fans was the criteria, then StarOcean IV would be getting a simultaneous release too.....

Megaton6179d ago

That's how it seems to me too. They're not even working on the 360 version until they finish and start localizing the PS3 version? So essentially, we're getting a delay in America and Europe as a result of this?

mistertwoturbo6178d ago

"We appreciate your feedback. We apologize that the announcement you are referring to do not meet your expectations. Your information will be forwarded to my superiors. We do cherish the support and opinion from our customers and look forward to hearing your remarks regarding our upcoming games.

Thanks,
Neil- SQUARE ENIX Customer Support
www.square-enix.com"

Here's their "copy and paste" reply emails to any complaints.

I highly doubt they CHERISH the opinion of they're customers.

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hazeblaze6179d ago

This is definitely a major blow to PS3 diehards. They get the game either way... but #1, it kind of makes me think that the game won't be as great as it could have been, and #2, it will definitely hurt overall PS3 sells.

Chad Warden6179d ago

Nah. FF always sells the most copies in Japan, and the game will only be released for PS3 in Japan. It's not as big in the US or EU.

hunter216178d ago

i agree to you on the first one but on the second i think it wont affect the ps3 sells that badly, yeah i was thinking on the quality of the game since it will go multiplatform. it will be ok but it will be not that outstanding in graphics. MS is smiling gold right now. lol

Chad Warden6179d ago

So they won't start working on the 360 version until they're done with the PS3 version? That makes sense. PS3 is lead console for FFXIII and it's still PS3-only in Japan.

socomnick6179d ago

No it will come to the US and Europe at the same time as the ps3 version.

Tabasco6178d ago

HAHA no need to get defensive he didn't suggest that.

Fux4Bux6179d ago

$$$$$$.

Quality and potential of the game be damned.

Chad Warden6179d ago

Well they're finishing the PS3 version first but yeah I wouldn't be surprised if they downgrade the PS3 version to DVD9 status all of a sudden. So sad. I knew there was a reason I've always been more hyped for Versus XIII.

badz1496179d ago

We'll have to admit it already that FFXIII is no longer exclusive but as they'll release it 1st only on the PS3 in JPN couple of months before US and EU, it's technically a time exclusive! I'm not a fan of FF but really hoping that they'll not gimp it down for the sake of 360 as M$ policy not allowing multiplat games being on multiple discs!!

funkysolo6179d ago

All of M$ JRPG's have been multi disc. I think FF is known to be longer than most RPG's so if blue dragon used 3 discs, we can assume FF13 is going to be on multi disc. There is no way in hell with all the CGI on FF that it will be on one 7GB disc..

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120°

Final Fantasy and SaGa series veteran Kazuyuki Shindo leaves Square Enix after 27 years

Kazuyuki Shindo, who worked on games including Legend of Mana, Final Fantasy XIII, and SaGa: Emerald Beyond, has left Square Enix.

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automaton-media.com
70°

The 7 Best Final Fantasy Characters: Unveiling the Legends

While FFVII ranks highly, there's more to the series than one game. Here's Chit Hot's picks for the seven best Final Fantasy characters.

220°

The older it gets, the more I respect Final Fantasy XIII

Alex Donaldson: "Hindsight is a hell of a thing, however, and in the years since Final Fantasy XIII, my respect for the decisions its developers made has skyrocketed. In the two Final Fantasy titles since we see both the brilliance and the folly in alternative approaches - and in Final Fantasy VII Remake, we get a more nuanced understanding of what FF13 was trying to accomplish from many of the same development leads."

Einhander1972541d ago

FFXIII is actually one of the best Final Fantasy games.

I also sort of was disappointed at the time, never as much as the bandwagon. But really all the fantastic 3D rendered cutscenes and I actually liked the characters and the story though convoluted was actually fantastic and the ending was extremely emotional. So much budget and time were put into that game Square had such big plans, I actually have always felt kind of bad for how things played out.

I have been thinking for years how great it would be to get all three games on one disk for PS4 or 5.

Nyxus541d ago

I always liked this game, and I agree, a rerelease for current gen would be nice.

Shane Kim539d ago (Edited 539d ago )

Gotta take off the nostalgia glasses. It's the worst FF. Shiva as a bike, I mean come on.

Elda539d ago

Shiva as a bike is strange but saying FFXIII is the worst FF is not at all a fact, that's simply your opinion.

Terry_B539d ago

*One of the 3 equally bad FF's

DivineHand125539d ago (Edited 539d ago )

When I got my series X a year ago, I bought FF13 for nostalgia reasons but ended up being disappointed. When I first played it around the time it launched, I didn't have a lot of experience with final fantasy games, so I enjoyed it. Fast forward to when I played it again, I found that the game had many unnecessary filler moments instead of just giving us meaningful content.

The game is also very linear and a quote on the article said it best. "It is like a sewage pipe that leads to the ocean until it opens up on Grand Pulse."

The story didn't make much sense either and I believe it is my mistake as I played the FF7 remake on PS5 prior which is a night and day difference in terms of pacing, storytelling and likeable characters even though cloud is aloof.

FinalFantasyFanatic539d ago (Edited 539d ago )

Probably was a mistake to play any of the golden era FFs first (e.g. FF6 through FF10), it makes it harder to enjoy some of the FFs that aren't as good. I think FF12 was where major issues with the series started becoming apparent, and it just got worse from there.

FinalFantasyFanatic539d ago (Edited 539d ago )

I didn't really care for it that much, the only saving grace was that it had a better story than 15 (overall it was better than 15) and possibly 12, and even then, you had to read some of it through primers, like reading a book. Plus the battle system was reasonably fun for what it was, even if it was more the spectacle that was exciting for me (e.g. summoning). And to be fair, the 13 trilogy got better with every games, I still don't like Snow though.

Gamingsince1981539d ago

Ff13 is only good if you haven't played a ff before, or any other games that are decent for that matter.

-Foxtrot539d ago

It is in fact no way the best Final Fantasy game, it's one of the worst

Linear corridors, Cutscene, Fight, Cutscene...rinse and repeat

Dialogue and characters are pretty bad, especially Lightning as the main FF hero, they literally said they tried to make a "Female Cloud" and they failed.

Story was pretty awful

I could go on

I think the only alright thing that came from the game was the music.

Elda538d ago

That's not a fact that's your personal opinion. The game sold 11 million copies between its 2009 release up until 2014 including critically reviewed as an 8 out of 10 or an 80 out of 100. The game does have some issues but it's not at all a fact as one of the worst FF games.

-Foxtrot538d ago

Elda

Not just mine mate

A large majority

So….

Traecy538d ago

N4G commenters such as yourself aren't the majority. The game was well received.

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gold_drake541d ago (Edited 541d ago )

i liked the game alot but i didnt like how they handled the terminology.

i dont mind reading data logs but it had soo many.

but i always loved the music and how it looked. the battle system wasnt too bad either.

but i like 13-2 more :)

i still dont understand why we never got a remaster of the trilogy

Eonjay539d ago

Xbox kinda did. Besides the video files of course which are still best on PS3 due to bluray.

Snookies12541d ago

XIII is a pretty solid game, but XIII-2 is WAY better. XIII-2 was one of the few games I decided to go for a Platinum trophy in, early on. Had so much fun the entire way through getting it too!

Eonjay539d ago

Totally agree. FF 13 was okay but 13-2 is my favorite FF game ever.

shinoff2183541d ago (Edited 541d ago )

I hated this to when it released. I haven't much liked a ff game since ff10 as much , aside from ff7remake. I decided to give it another shot on my series x since it's not on a current ps and was liking it quite a bit(just takes me some time to get over things ) until star ocean 2 remake came out I was all over that.

Square should definitely remaster it or something for ps4 ps5

KillerB539d ago

my favorite jrpg trilogy ever

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