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Final Fantasy XIII Is Coming To Xbox 360
An anonymous reader writes "In a stunning change, Square-Enix announced today at Microsoft's E3 press conference that its next iteration in the Final Fantasy series is also coming to Xbox 360." And I just rationalized the PS3 purchase by telling myself that the next FF will require it.
Really?
I seem to remember Final Fantasy games for the PC that were on PS, that seemed to sell rather well. Not sure if that's related or not, but it would seem to be.
Cross platform wouldn't be such a big deal if the companies were more open about their development methods/kits/etc....if PS3 and Xbox360 and wii worked together, there would be no issues. However end result is the PS3 would run games the best due to superior hardware basically, and everyone else would cry foul. Plus all of those anticompetitive "exclusivity" contracts like EA has launched, ensuring crappy games when they're on a single system. Of course squeenix makes pretty good games and always has, though.
You have a problem with Microsoft, but not with Sony?
Exclusivity contracts.
Wanna play Halo 2? Get an XBOX. Wanna play Eternal Darkness? Get a gamecube. Wanna play Castlevania ? Get a PS2.
If only all game makers were following this example and began producing their games for ALL platforms... PC included.
I get why you were modded troll but you touch an important point. The RPG community has been fragmented now. For those who delight in making a character and sharing it with your friends real or otherwise the MMORPG is sweet, sweet candy, but for those who enjoy the deep and rich story which has previously followed RPGs MMORPGs just feel hollow. I've taken quite a few steps into MMORPGs and while they are improving over time, there are just some things that have to be sacrificed for balance. There will always be a place for the single(or well developed small group)-player RPG.
No, it's not. If it were Microsoft's dollars at work, then they'd be releasing FF13 on the Xbox 360 in Japan too. But they're not.
No, this is Square Enix taking a long and hard look at the console market and realizing that the PS3, while winning in Japan, is losing everywhere else. In order to justify the cost of releasing it outside Japan, they realized that they'd have to release it for the Xbox 360, since it has over twice the install base of the PS3 in the US and Europe.
It's simply Square Enix being smart. Sony has lost to the Xbox 360 in every territory except Japan. Square Enix has done the math and they know that the cost of porting to the Xbox 360 is far less than the expected gains by effectively tripling their audience.
Also the fact that it's apparently one of the only halfway-decent Blu-Ray players out there.
I was shocked when I first read this, but it's apparently true. How the heck did Blu-Ray "win" when the only decent player is a freakin' PS3?
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
In the realm of mature gamers (most of whom have the disposable income to purchase all or as many of the current generation of consoles as they like), fanboy platform wars have no real place. That being said, I see both major positives and negatives about this announcement.
On the plus side, any increase in the competition of two massive corporate juggernauts can only be good for consumers, and the game being multiplatform will help it reach a wider audience and boost sales (especially overseas). In this day and age, it seems like third party exclusive titles are becoming a thing of the past, being replaced by highly subsidized exclusive bonus content (which results in more money for the developers who MAKE the games we love).
However, one advantage consoles have always had is the uniformity of hardware, allowing developers to milk as much performance as possible out of the system, and resulting in better looking titles than on comparably equipped PC hardware (but PCs, being upgradable, often quickly strip that advantage away as hardware progresses). Today, multiplatform developers for Xbox 360 and PS3 often strive for graphical parity between the versions (e.g., GTA4, Assassin's Creed). And while I have no doubt both are powerful systems in their own respects, they are also radically different hardware architectures and I can't see how developers can realistically claim to be maxing out the performance on both systems, yet still have them come out looking virtually indistinguishable.
As an owner of both systems, I was looking forward to FF XIII as an incredible showcase of just how powerful the PS3 was as a system. I'm sure it will still be a fantastic game, but I wonder if this decision won't negatively impact the final product...
because nintendo decided gameplay was more important than graphics. not necessarily a bad move, but certainly one that prevent certain games from being ported to Wii
Clarification for me please?
I haven't gotten any of the new generation consoles (except a wii). I was thinking of a PS3 over a 360 because friends with 360s said they were a headache to own. Lots of failures, very noisy and occasionally even scratching disks.
Why would a PS3 be less useful than a 360 if all the games are the same and the hardware is better?
So where is the appeal of this series? The action is dull, the RPG elements are poorly conceived and don't make much sense. The place is plodding. Why are these games so raved about? I just don't get it...
It basically boils down to one thing: some people have different opinions from you. Many people think that their action is exciting, the RPG elements are fascinating, and the pace is perfect. As a general rule, one of the series' largest draws is the stories; if you don't care about a game telling you a story, it's probably safe to say that you won't enjoy the series (but there are, of course, exceptions).
I also see that you specifically mentioned FF7, which I'll bet you know is the best game to mention for starting a good flame war. There are lots of people who say it's the best game ever, and there are also a lot of people who say it's the worst game ever. The series is internally incosistent with itself, and all of the games are significantly different from each other. If you didn't like 7 but are honestly interested in why the series is popular, I'd recommend you take a look at 6, 9, or 12 instead. I'd also highly recommend Tactics, although some people will say that doesn't count as part of the series because it doesn't have a number after it.
Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
Just one question: Will the 360 version be a bare bones, no-cutscenes version, or will it sport 5 discs, or more? I mean, taking MGS4 as an example, that game renders all cutscenes in-game, yet _still_ fills up a whole dual layer BD, meaning 50 GB of textures and sound (minus some GB of double content for better reading performance, I know).
Not to pee in your cheerios, but Virtua Fighter 5 (initially touted as a PS3 exclusive, too) was released with fancier graphics and online multiplayer with exceptional netcode exclusively on the 360. Basically, I can sit here and play VF5 with friends in Japan from my sofa in the US with no perceived latency all evening while PS3 users are stuck playing only people in the same room with less detail and features on their "technically superior" console.
If the game turns out to require multiple discs, I'd assume there would be an option to copy game data to the HDD, as many 360 users have 120GB drives nowadays. Microsoft, although having had hurdles with hardware problems, tends to push for a great gaming experience on the 360.
It's probably going to be detrimental to my karma to suggest we wait and see instead of just assuming anything to do with the 360 is going to crap up the game or offer a lesser experience. It's entirely likely Microsoft will try to make another example out of any former Sony exclusive franchise.