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Dell Partners with Square

Posted by Hemos on from the the-neal-will-be-so-happy dept.

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."

9 of 295 comments (clear)

  1. uh oh by Raven42rac · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dude, you're gonna lose productivity.

    --
    I hate sigs.
  2. This is sad... by jpt.d · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I sure don't mind it shipping on new computers from Dell, but requiring a nvidia card for certain things? That is rediculous. I use an ATI Radeon (aging one mind you) and would like to see some real compatibility between them!

    --
    What we see depends on mainly what we look for. -- John Lubbock Now search for that bug slave!
  3. Partnering? by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Funny


    All this promiscuous 'partnering' is sure to result in a computer virus that won't wash off so easily.

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    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  4. Connections by nukey56 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Interestingly enough, a large amount of market share of Square is owned by Sony, which also sells PCs. However, I have yet to see any announcement of Square products being shipped on Sony PCs. It seems strange that the reverse is not the truth.. is there something going on behind the scences here?

  5. If you can't beat em with technology by SpiffyMarc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    nVidia has finally realized the edge it needs to put ATI under: marketing dollars. No amount of cool tech from ATI will stop the fact that Square signed this deal with nVidia. This is where the GeForce4 will get its' edge against the technically superior Radeon 9700 Pro.

    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.

    1. Re:If you can't beat em with technology by Archfeld · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I will echo the above AC's comments LOUDLY and logged in. I've got a ti-4600 and a radeon 9700 pro, the Radeon is a better faster board, that has bugs in places I've never even considered. The 4600 is rock solid and compliant. ATI has yet to realize that a video card IS the drivers. ATI support is slow to respond, they often send the wrong info out, heck they did not even have drivers up for the 9700 for nearly 2 weeks after issue. My cd arrived damaged and I had to plead on IRC to get someone to let me ftp the drivers...
      I hope ATI gets it together but how long have people been saying that ?

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      errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
  6. Dude... by shadowcabbit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...these jokes are getting old.

    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.

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    "Why Subscribe?" Good question...
  7. Counter-proposal by parliboy · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Why don't they port FFIX and FFX first. And I mean really make an effort to port it -- I don't want to have to kick in anti-aliasing x3 to enjoy the game.

    What? Don't think it'll sell? So quit trying to port XI.

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    "You're never ready, just less unprepared."
  8. nVidia=3dfx? by puppetman · · Score: 5, Interesting

    We just saw a story on the collapse of 3dfx. One thing the story didn't mention was Glide, and 3dfx pushing it down the throats of game developers to try to get a monopoly on the market. Thank God for John Carmack, Id Software, and OpenGL.

    Now nVidia is doing the following: "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"

    Now a geForce4 is a nice card, but the ATI 9700 is the only card that fully supports DirectX 9. You would think the 9700 would be better for Final Fantasy.

    There is probably a chunk of code that says,

    if (card_manufacturer = nVidia)
    {
    frame_rate=fast;
    colors=vibrant;
    special_effects=on;
    }

    It seems like nVidia is going the 3dfx route. Too bad; competition in the graphics card market is good for the consumer.