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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.

13 of 541 comments (clear)

  1. I have always been a Sony fanboy... by WingedHorse · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...but I can't think of any reasons to buy PS3 anymore. Metal gear solids seem to be the only one as I don't really have need for Blue ray now (if I have in a few years, they will propably be cheaper by that time anyways).

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    1. Re:I have always been a Sony fanboy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

    2. Re:I have always been a Sony fanboy... by moosesocks · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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?

      --
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    3. Re:I have always been a Sony fanboy... by twistedsymphony · · Score: 5, Interesting

      then why arent they releasing it for the wii which has a larger install base world wide then both the ps3 and xbox360 combined?

      Probably because a major part of the core Final Fantasy lineage is eye candy... and the Wii doesn't have adequate hardware to provide said eye candy for their flagship title.

      That and the fact that FF is really not a franchise for casual gamers... it doesn't really cater to the Wii audience regardless of how large that audience is.

    4. Re:I have always been a Sony fanboy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yep. I'm proudly a casual gamer, and I can think of many, many, many things I'd rather do that play through a single player game that last over 9,000 hours. I think releasing it on the 360 is a much smarter idea.

      But that's 8,000 hours of cut scenes you're missing.

  2. Re:Well there goes the history of decent quality.. by Neon+Spiral+Injector · · Score: 5, Interesting

    FF13 was not being developed directly on the PS3 hardware. It was instead being written to run on the Crystal Engine, which was being programmed to run on the PS3. It is just now the Crystal Engine has been ported to the 360 so FF13 can follow.

    Sounds like the PS3 will still be the system to play it on if one owns both.

  3. Re:Elderly games. by neokushan · · Score: 5, Informative

    Would you feel better if they gave it a different name? The Final Fantasy games don't follow on from one another, they occasionally have similar themes or side-characters, but that's it.
    Think of it more like a branding, like Ferrari or Ford.

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  4. Re:What ever... by geminidomino · · Score: 5, Funny

    IMHO, one player games are dull as hell.

    Been playing 'video games' since 1985 or so and one player RPG's have had their day.

    I would much rather play a 2 player RPG or better yet, a 10 million player RPG.

    Speak for yourself. Having dealt with the "players" of those "10 million player RPGs" I'd rather slam my dick in a car door than play one.

    They can give me all the 1 player RPGs they like (though bugger Final Fantasy. Get to work on Dragon Quest 9!)

  5. Re:What ever... by internerdj · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  6. A mixed blessing by Sephiro444 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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...

  7. I've never been a Sony fanboy.... BUT by Serenissima · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I still bought a PS3. Honestly, I don't really care about what games come out for it - well, maybe except for Resident Evil 5, that looks awesome - I got it for a Blu-Ray player. It's the best and cheapest Blu-Ray player you can get on the market, and probably will be for a while.

    During the format wars, Sony updated the Blu-Ray version by adding new features; new features that made new Blu-Ray discs incompatible with older players. If Sony decides to add more features in the future, the PS3 is the most versatile player they have.

    The PS3's Blu-Ray decoding is software-based, it can be updated and upgraded easily. And the PS3 already comes with a wireless card in it that makes it extraordinarily easy to update.

    Also, additional content on many Blu-Ray titles was done in Java. (AvP for instance has a game on the Blu-Ray disc) Most stand-alone players grind to a halt when trying to run Java. The PS3 has computing power to spare and chew those Java apps up and spit them back out. And speaking of computing power, it's designed to have amazing graphics. When you apply that to 2D video, the colors and picture quality are on par with the best devices out there. I'm sure there are better players out there, but those top of the line, multiple-thousand dollar units. For 500 bucks (plus HD cables, plus 30 bucks for the remote), you'll be near top of the line for significantly less money.

    The PS3 also will upconvert your old DVD's to 1080p. So, your library of DVD's isn't obsolete like VHS tapes were with DVD's. It'll make all your DVD's look better.

    So, it's an amazing player. It displays the movies in crisp, clear graphics - comparable to higher end Blu-Ray players. It can easily update its firmware so it can play all current and future Blu-Ray titles. It has the capability to play all additional content that many other players are incapable of playing. It upconverts old DVDs. And to top it off, it's the cheapest Blu-Ray player out there (or it was when I bought mine). If you've got a 1080p capable TV and you buy movies, the PS3 is going to be the way to go. And, if you see a game worth playing, well, that's just icing on the cake.

    Let me finish off by saying I've been a Nintendo Fanboy. I've bought every Nintendo console that's come out. I was pissed off by Sony's arrogance about their system. I was voting for HD-DVD to win. But they didn't. Blu-Ray won. And I'm a pragmatist. If I want to watch movies in 1080p (which I do) there's only one way to do. The president of Sony can go eat a dick. I don't like his business practices and arrogance, but my opinion isn't going to change that. And even though I don't particularly care for him or the way, I have to admit that Sony makes awesome stuff. The first thing I watched in 1080p was a Wall-E trailer I downloaded. Jesus F-ing Christ. If you have the opportunity to see what 1080p video looks like, take the chance.

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  8. Re:Well there goes the history of decent quality.. by flitty · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm guessing the 360 version will be 3 or 4 discs.

    And I'm guessing that the PS3 version will probably require a HDD install, much like Devil May Cry 4, MGS4, etc.. and load 1-2 seconds faster.

    An interesting sidenote, with the announcement that the 360 can install games to the HDD, but you have to have the disc in (for verification that you own the game), if they allowed a full game install of FFXIII, allowing the first disc to be the "verification" disc, the "LOL1l!! multiple disc" arguement would go away. Get on in MS, for those who don't like getting off the couch every 10 hours.

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  9. Re:So whats the big deal? by Yosho · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

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