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Final Fantasy I & II Remakes Confirmed For GBA
Thanks to 1UP for its story revealing Square Enix has announced a Game Boy Advance compilation of Final Fantasy I & II, due to debut in Japan this July. The article mentions: "That's the same pair of 8-bit RPGs that came to North America for the PlayStation as Final Fantasy Origins. However, the GBA remakes will feature a few new extras on top of the content from the original games", including new dungeons and substories - the remake also "seems to use the magic point system from later games in the series", and a U.S. release is likely but unconfirmed.
It's about time.
They've been out for the Wonderswan for ages.
Putting the romance back into necromancer.
So we can play "pirated" games when they dont allow us due to unfair geographical restraints.
How many times are videogame companies going to expect people to dish out money for the same exact games? These 'technological update' port/remakes are completely against the progressive nature of technology because they depend on the suppression of our rights to play games that we have already purchased. Instead of allowing people to continue to play classic games they have already paid for on new hardware (via official emulators and hardware ROM extractors and the like), they rely on the short life-cycle of console systems to sell us the same games again in a new packaging. While they do update the technological presentation, they don't make any significant changes, or even create superficially different levels and challenges to make the games any different the second (PSX), third (WSC), fourth (GBA) time around. It's even more revolting than sequelitis. If they -must- remake, instead of making a re-re-re-release of FF1-2, why don't they remake FF3 for once and use the opportunity to localize the only Final Fantasy still officially missing in the US? While it's proven to be more successful to re-release classic games on new hardware than to actually develop new games, it also shows that the monolithic Square can't come up with any better games than their last-ditch effort twenty years ago when they were a two-bit videogame company on the verge of bankruptcy (which, oh the irony, is what the 'Final' in FF actually stood for at the time).
And I too would like to see a US release of the original FF3. As I recall, Square had been planning on releasing a port of this game for the Bandai Wonderswan, but it got cancelled :P
How many times are videogame companies going to expect people to dish out money for the same exact games?
Probably as long as those games ported from older systems continue to be among the biggest selling GBA games. Hell, that's why I got a GBA, to be able to play all the older classic games without needing to deal with ROMs. Fully half, at least, of my GBA collection is remade SNES/NES games.
I didn't know a 2004 Ford Mustang was almost exactly the same as a 1988 Ford Mustang.
Learn something new every day!
Rob
The first screenshots of the remakes also indicate that the original Final Fantasy will have a different magic system. Instead of the Dungeons & Dragons-style spell level system from the original game, it seems to use the magic point system from later games in the series.
This seams like a weird thing to do. The original magic system was not confusing, just different then the current one. I think doing this would completly reshape how magic is used in the first final fantasy. Since there was not an actual picture of the screenshot, I am wondering if perhaps they saw a picture of final fantasy II which did have the MP magic system. I hope so because I would hate it if a major gameplay feature was altered.
Friend: There is a difference between buying new and buying used.
That has nothing to do with your flawed analogy. You said that buying re-releases of games is the same as buying new models of cars. I pointed out that it is not.
As for playing old games that you didn't have the chance to play originally, that's what emulation and abandonware are for. (Sure it's illegal, but I don't see the FBI arresting people for pirating decade-old games. And it doesn't even have to be illegal if the copyright owners would make their old games freeware instead of milking them until there's nothing left.)
Rob
This is so cool. I mean, new dungeons! I'm almost glad I haven't boughten Origins yet (although I'll probably end up buying them both - I get stupidly irrational when it comes to Square games). Now, if only they'd continue the trend and bring out CT, SMRPG, and, more importantly, FFIII.