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No Graphics Upgrade for 360 FFXI
GamesIndustry.biz has the word that Final Fantasy XI, as it will appear on the Xbox 360 console, will be a straight port of the title with no proposed graphics upgrade. From the article: "The company also revealed that Final Fantasy XI was originally in development for the current generation Xbox console, but that an agreement couldn't be reached with Microsoft that would allow Square Enix to implement its custom PlayOnline online gaming service on Xbox Live. The restrictions on this have been eased significantly with the Xbox 360, the firm's spokespeople explained, and players will log into PlayOnline in order to play FFXI, not the Live service."
One of the great things about the Xbox's online strategy is its uniform. I can be playing Game A, and if a buddy logs on to Game B, he can join my game, or invite me over to his game.
If they start a precedent where logging into Live isn't necessary for online play, then online could quickly decentralize and lose one of its best features.
I like the flexibility, but to me, a better solution would be to integrate Playonline with Live Aware features.
I would think that being 720p (which is a requirement on XBOX 360) would at the very least count for something, at least over the PS2 and canned XBOX version. Especially when you consider that it probably would've been ported from the PC version, and downgraded somewhat to run on the original XBOX. Heck, that new Tony Hawk game isn't getting much of a graphical upgrade over the PS2 and XBOX versions either. Looks about the same to me. That's the problem with ports sometimes. No biggie.