No Graphics Upgrade for 360 FFXI

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No Graphics Upgrade for 360 FFXI

Posted by Zonk on Thursday May 19, 2005 @08:58AM from the isn't-it-about-time-for-one? dept.

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."

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FFXI = Worthless by mconeone · 2005-05-19 09:00 · Score: 1

Not would you pay more for FFXI than you would on a PC or other console, it has the same graphics. What a waste! That and everyone else has a few year head start on you...
1. Re:FFXI = Worthless by ZephyrXero · 2005-05-19 09:21 · Score: 1
  
  Well, the Xbox 360 version is aimed at people who don't already have it for their PC. It's a different audience/market... People who have crappy video cards and whatnot, or people who aren't fans of gaming with their keyboard and mouse will welcome even a straight port... Hell, integrated voice chat would almost make it worthwhile by itself.
  
  --
  "A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
2. Re:FFXI = Worthless by ZephyrXero · 2005-05-19 10:42 · Score: 1
  
  That's not class, that's overkill. If people really care, they can talk in a fake voice like some people do in old school D&D games. It's just an RPG...even if it's a video game you can still use a little bit of your imagination...And I'm pretty doubtful on MS allowing them to not have the voice chat if it's used in conjunction with Live.
  
  --
  "A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
3. Re:FFXI = Worthless by djdanlib · 2005-05-19 13:51 · Score: 1
  
  I know, having to play with people who've been where you are before really sucks. It's terrible! I mean, there's even SO MANY people to play with now, that you can't brag about being the only lowbie in town. Gosh, what a rotten experience.
  
  You sound like one of the whiny forum posters who pretends to quit five times just to see if anyone goes OMG I WANT TO BEAR YOUR BABIES COME BACK. Knock it off, already.
4. Re:FFXI = Worthless by joshsisk · 2005-05-20 01:58 · Score: 1
  
  I'm pretty doubtful on MS allowing them to not have the voice chat if it's used in conjunction with Live.
  
  From the top of this very page:
  
  players will log into PlayOnline in order to play FFXI, not the Live service.
Bad precedent by llevity · 2005-05-19 09:10 · Score: 3, Interesting

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.
1. Re:Bad precedent by mconeone · 2005-05-19 09:15 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  "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."
  
  This may or may not be 100% true. The new xbox live service has a free membership, and will allow publishers to charge for playing their games online. This is different from the old xbox live, as you had to pay just to be able to log in. While they might completely circumvent this, my guess is that 360 users will have to use xbox live to be able to log into PlayOnline.
2. Re:Bad precedent by hunterx11 · 2005-05-19 09:31 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  EA combined their own servers with Live aware features. They were the first to be allowed to do so, and frankly the experience is markedly worse than any Live games which I've played.
  
  --
  English is easier said than done.
3. Re:Bad precedent by -kertrats- · 2005-05-19 10:03 · Score: 1
  
  That would require Sony to acknowledge that Live exists...
  
  --
  The Braying and Neighing of Barnyard Animals Follows.
4. Re:Bad precedent by ZephyrXero · 2005-05-19 10:48 · Score: 1
  
  What does Sony have to do with this? Playonline is a Square-Enix service.
  
  --
  "A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
5. Re:Bad precedent by -kertrats- · 2005-05-19 10:54 · Score: 1
  
  Well, whaddya know, I just checked and you're right. I thought it was connected with Sony somehow.
  
  Learn something new every day...
  
  --
  The Braying and Neighing of Barnyard Animals Follows.
6. Re:Bad precedent by EggyToast · 2005-05-19 10:57 · Score: 1
  
  The precedent's been around for a while. EA was mentioned above, and Phantasy Star requires additional payments on top of the Live service.
  I'm personally curious why they opted for this. Why would they want to launch with an old MMORPG that has already been played by those interested on either PS2 or Xbox? Is it to get those console-only players who didn't want to dish out for the HDD? And for anyone getting introduced to the Xbox, why would you ever want to allow them to log on to a different, non-Live service? It took EA years to realize that their own service was appallingly bad compared to the Live service, and they were getting a lot of bad press for it (and reduced sales for online games).
  
  So now we know that one of the launch titles for the Brand New Xbox 360 that Microsoft hopes will cement a 1st place position is an aging MMORPG that looks just like the PC version and plays with a non-Live, pay-per-month system. Yeah... that's a system seller alright.
7. Re:Bad precedent by yakitori · 2005-05-19 22:29 · Score: 1
  
  Simple guess would be so Microsoft can claim they have Final Fantasy running on their console. Final Fantasy was always credited for helping to push the original Playstation to the top of the market (especially in Japan). Perhaps Microsoft feels this will increase Japanese acceptance of the Xbox 360? Maybe this was a requirement by Squaresoft so they would develop for the Xbox 360?
Nice graphics by Anonymous Coward · 2005-05-19 09:16 · Score: 1, Funny

Just another great showcase of the graphical prowess of the xbox360.
Other PC MMORPGs on their way? by ZephyrXero · 2005-05-19 09:19 · Score: 2, Interesting

I wonder if we'll see other PC MMORPGs coming to the 360, like World of Warcraft or Guild Wars? I'm sure EQ2 will be coming out on PS3 at some point too...

--
"A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
1. Re:Other PC MMORPGs on their way? by falcon5768 · 2005-05-19 09:29 · Score: 1
  
  Why would EQ2 come out for the PS3? EQ never came out for the PS2, only a bastardized version of it called EQ Online Adventures which pretty much dissapeared as fast as the Mac version which also was different did.
  
  --
  "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
2. Re:Other PC MMORPGs on their way? by trevick · 2005-05-19 09:33 · Score: 1
  
  I wonder if we'll see other PC MMORPGs coming to the 360
  
  Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is rumored to be coming out for the Xbox 360.
3. Re:Other PC MMORPGs on their way? by ZephyrXero · 2005-05-19 10:46 · Score: 1
  
  Probably b/c the PS2 couldn't handle everquest's RAM requirements, and the harddrive not being very well spread.
  
  --
  "A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
4. Re:Other PC MMORPGs on their way? by falcon5768 · 2005-05-19 17:06 · Score: 1
  
  nah If it can handle the much more graphically heavy FFXI it can handle the original EQ. SOE just doesnt see the reason to go to their systems.
  
  --
  "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
Article not entirely accurate. by falcon5768 · 2005-05-19 09:35 · Score: 3, Informative

It wont be a graphical update of the PC version, but it WILL be graphically better than the PS2 version. Realistically though anyone who buys a MMORPG or any game based on graphics alone is a moron.
And the reason behind it is that they do not want to lose the PS2 fanbase which while smaller in America is well over 50% of the Japanese users.

--
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
1. Re:Article not entirely accurate. by Ben+Esacove · 2005-05-19 10:06 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, while it's undocumented and unsupported, there are ways to increase the effective resolution in the PC version of FFXI by editing the registry. (When I played FFXI, I had it running at 1280x1280 with a 1280x1024 resolution, and it was pretty sharp, though the graphics aren't anything too special even then.)
2. Re:Article not entirely accurate. by djdanlib · 2005-05-19 13:58 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  The ideal 3D resolution seems to be 512x512 at 800x600 2D resolution. I think the textures were designed at that resolution, because the geometry and textures seem to line up very well at those settings. I've got a 22" monitor that I usually run at 1600x1200 and I can tell you that FFXI does look best at 512x512. I've played it at 2048x1536... not a happy experience for the eyes.
  
  Setting up MIP mapping at above-normal settings (like 4 or 5) in the registry and forcing anisotropic filtering in your display driver both help it look better. Also, sitting more than a foot away from your monitor helps immensely.
  
  For more details... check out my old Allakhazam post on all the registry settings. AFAIK, I am the only one to have ever gone into that much detail.
3. Re:Article not entirely accurate. by falcon5768 · 2005-05-19 17:09 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Well the windower thing will never be fixed they would rather a few people not play then lay the relm open to easily be botted. As it is now they constantly update the PC client to stop windower from working since its against the TOS.
  honestly I continue to not see the point in it, maybe its because I grew up in a time where you couldnt have other programs running on a PC and play a graphics heavy game, but I see no point in leaving a chat program or my email when I am playing a game.
  
  --
  "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
4. Re:Article not entirely accurate. by falcon5768 · 2005-05-20 07:35 · Score: 1
  
  Well since your not technically capable to figure it out yourself.
  Botting programs are seperate programs running under the client, SE DID figure out a way to prevent you from botting, you just cant run other programs while you play. Windower allows you to though by being able to minimize and launch a program.
  
  Botting programs typically cant be launched before you log in, you usually have to launch them after your already in the game by tabbing out and launching the program.
  
  Course a simple search would have given you this information.
  
  and well what is SE to do about the fact that 90% of the world is stupid enough to be running a virus filled OS that would have a anti-virus program warn you every hour.
  
  I get a message from my program maybe one a week.... but then again I'm smart, I run OS X.
  
  --
  "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
5. Re:Article not entirely accurate. by Chris+Mattern · 2005-05-21 00:58 · Score: 1
  
  I can tell you that FFXI does look best at 512x512.
  
  I'm betting this varies with your video-card. I'm also betting you have an nVidia. I have a Radeon 9800 and I will tell you that 512x512 on my machine produces jaggies that make me want to tear out my eyeballs. 1024z1024 is the only acceptable setting. I use 1024x768 as my resolution mainly because my machine can't *quite* keep up in crunch times with 1280x1024, which is the max my monitor supports. But 1280x1024 looks just fine.
  
  Chris Mattern
6. Re:Article not entirely accurate. by djdanlib · 2005-05-26 13:34 · Score: 1
  
  Just a lowly 128MB Radeon 9600 Pro.
  
  Might want to reset your GFX settings to the defaults and try again.
Some graphical upgrade.. by hollismb · 2005-05-19 09:40 · Score: 3, Interesting

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.
1. Re:Some graphical upgrade.. by trainedCodeMonkey · 2005-05-23 04:07 · Score: 1
  
  FFxi now supports resolutions of 1080I (2048*1080), as I sometimes play it from my computer onto my tv at those resolutions. no updates are really *necessary* to the game for this support.
No, it isn't. by enigmathegreat · 2005-05-19 10:14 · Score: 1

From the article:
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.

The "graphical prowess" of which you speak would be understated, not showcased. A "great showcase" would be a game designed specifically with the 360's capabilities in mind.
1. Re:No, it isn't. by ZephyrXero · 2005-05-19 10:52 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  I think the GP was trying to make a joke...
  
  --
  "A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."