FFXIII No Longer A Playstation Exclusive?

[xeoset]

Sony France executive says in interview that Square Enix's latest installment may not be exclusive to the console after all.

http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6167864.html

Sakaguchi, Father of the Final Fantasy Series, is both unimpressed with the PS3 from both a Japanese Resident and Games Developer point of view, aswell as praising the 360. He also states that the White Engine has always been capable of going Multi-Platform so there is no reason for Final Fantasy to stay Exclusive. Adding fuel to the fire.

Final Fantasy creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi, recently added fuel to this rumor, stating that the FFXIII's White Engine is capable of multiplatform development, and that he believed making FFXIII a multiplatform game would be a "wise" decision. Is the Xbox 360 about to pick up another of the PS3's heavy hitters? Only time will tell. If Final Fantasy XIII were to come out on Xbox, would it sway your decision to get a PS3?

http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2007/03/22/ffxiii-not-exclusive-to-ps3-after-all/
http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6167571.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=newstop&tag=newstop;title;2

All I can say is...:eek:

It's been an extremely bad week for the PS3 already, completely losing a Series Installment and the Exclusivity of one of it's biggest Series, they seem to be on course to lose another.

Both announcements and discussions were from a Sony Executive and the Father of Final Fantasy, the first having tons of pressure dumped on him because he's the one that has to go and negotiate, trying to convince them staying with Sony is a good idea.

Final Fantasy is Sony's best selling product, or at least very near and after SquareEnix fully stripped them of Dragon Quest last year and handed it to Nintendo on a plate it will be extremely interesting to see how this turns out.

[Mr.SelfDestruct]

I've been expecting this for awhile now. It's not the first time the FF series would be jumping platforms.

How long do you think Konami will hold out with MSG now? Do you think they'll wait til MSG5 before they go multiplatform?

[Nocturnal]

Sakaguchi, Father of the Final Fantasy Series, is both unimpressed with the PS3 from both a Japanese Resident

Interesting, I didn't realize that video game systems were so integral to their culture. :confused:

[xeoset]

Interesting, I didn't realize that video game systems were so integral to their culture. :confused:

The fact he's Japanese and prefers an American Product over a Japanese one was interesting so I thought I'd add it in. All that huffabalub about cultural differences and such.

[Deakmm]

*Waits for Rand0m to post claiming it was never really an 'exclusive' & "it means nothing" e.t.c..*

[.: 69 :.]

Score, Final Fantasy has always been one of my favorite series, and i would'nt twant to spend 500 - 600$ just to play.

[fub]

I have no real opinion on the matter, but I saw this:
http://kotaku.com/gaming/ffxiii/rumo...air-246094.php

In an interview with French newspaper Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, SCEE VP Georges Fornay (the snuggler on the right) has gone and said something a little...silly. While discussing the upcoming PS3 launch, he thought it'd be a good idea to clarify just where Sony stands in regards to Final Fantasy XIII:

"Enfin, pour Final Fantasy XIII, je peux vous dire que l'exclusivité est en discussion (Lastly, for Final Fantasy XIII, I can say to you that exclusiveness is under discussion)."

Right. See, Georges, can I call you Georges? Georges, we were all under the impression FFXIII was already a PS3 exclusive. If what you say is true, now of all times probably wasn't the best to bring this up.

That said, this is probably just a mix-up. He might have gotten flustered and chosen his words rather poorly. Maybe, being French, he went for flowery prose when he should have just stuck to "no comment". Try and keep this in mind before you go bouncing off the walls, OK

[Wu-tang]

Misleading. Totally misleading. Hironobu Sakaguchi has no say whatsoever about the Final Fantasy series now. He resigned from Square a while back and founded a company called Mistwalker, which just so happens to be financially backed by Microsoft.

[xeoset]

Misleading. Totally misleading. Hironobu Sakaguchi has no say whatsoever about the Final Fantasy series now. He resigned from Square a while back and founded a company called Mistwalker, which just so happens to be financially backed by Microsoft.

While he left SquareEnix he would most likely still have an influence there. He created Final Fantasy and made the Series what it is today. It was his idea to move the Series from Nintendo to Sony and look at the success it brought them, it literally made Squaresoft (at the time). Final Fantasy wouldn't be as highly regarded if it wasn't for that move. So, when the guy who not only created the Series, made the biggest deliberate decision that got it on the map, him saying Final Fantasy going Mulitplatform wouldn't have an effect on something that was already happening. Square gave Nintendo Dragon Quest because of Playstation Sales (both PS3 + PSP), but obviously couldn't give them Final Fantasy XIII because of lacking Hardware...Who's there with a sales boast and money?

Still, Sakaguchi wouldn't have played any part in it before now but it's obvious after the Dragon Quest issue and the press statement saying they'd be expanding across all consoles, so him further suggesting the move would have some form of effect.

Finally. Sony have had to have what seems to be an emergency meeting with SquareEnix to talk over the exclusivity issues. Sony will need to lay down huge amounts of money on a series that prints money and they've got Microsoft breathing down their necks...especially after Microsoft Germany said they'd be after FFXIII next.

[LegendaryLink]

Misleading. Totally misleading. Hironobu Sakaguchi has no say whatsoever about the Final Fantasy series now. He resigned from Square a while back and founded a company called Mistwalker, which just so happens to be financially backed by Microsoft.

QFT it's basically wishful thinking. But I hope it makes it's way to 360.

[silverspade14]

Personally I don't like Final Fantasy but I know a lot of people do. So according to that Microsoft guy that last game he needs is MGS4.

[Shaster]

sony better do something soon, im starting to regret buying my ps3. I might just have to sell it and get a 360.

[Mr.SelfDestruct]

It's only a matter of time. SquareEnix isn't stupid, they're going to go where the money is. Now that XBox is a very serious competitor to the leading console of the previous generation, Square will eventually join up with MS as well.

It's business. And SquareEnix owes Sony nothing. If they think that going cross platform will earn them more money, they'll do it.

[xeoset]

It's business. And SquareEnix owes Sony nothing. If they think that going cross platform will earn them more money, they'll do it.

Exactly. Though I think it's more based around Console Sales, the PS3 is still selling horribly, just take a look at it's European Launch, stores have allowed waiting for 3 days and yesterday had that many people in most stores.


Here. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fozi999/429443942/)
All here. Some Anti-Sony Site. (http://www.ukresistance.co.uk/)
Biz trying to find reasons why it's going so badly. (http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4990&Itemid=2)

IMO, Sony should of pulled off a World Wide Launch when they could of. The poor sales in Japan and America have had a domino effect in Europe and it's expected you can just walk in and buy a PS3, there aren't many here anyway but there's less people that want them aswell so if this isn't the final kick up the arse to Sony they'll never fucking move.

I'm expecting FFXIII News as early as next week and at most the end of April.

[phoenix009]

OMG the green beast is sucking the lifeblood out of Sony, the only thing keeping its vitals up is MGS4.:ahhh:

[Newb1e St1l3Z]

yeah well, we'll see what happens with the FF franchise, but for the PS3 not selling well in Europe its also a matter of price and one other factor:

*Price is REALLY ridiculous, sure its probably one of the most powerful pieces of hardware in terms of processing power that a consumer can buy, but whats the point if were just not ready for this sort of technology jump interms of bang for buck, Its like going out and spending $15 000 on a computer, sure it will run Oblivion on everything maxed out, but so will a $2000 one.

Its just that the consumer does not see the point in paying soo much for something that is only going to be used to its true potential in 3-5 years time . We have only just started to see the PS2 being pushed to its potential ability last year with games like Black and FF12.

Another main reason is the number of games available, the 360 has alot more games therefore a bigger player base therefore a bigger incentive for game makers, because they know if they get say 1% of the market(theoreticly speaking) they've made themselves a good return.
Where as the PS3 has alot less games, the player base is smaller so there is less incentive for developers which leads to no increase in sale rate and so on and on in a vicous loop.

Thats why the Wii is winning, because it provides consumers with something that does what they want and has a good selection of games, and at half the price of the PS3 with a free game, you can't go wrong can with that can you? (well thats your generic customers point of view)

Thats my view anyway, im holding out till June to get my PS3 or if MGS4 comes out before then.

BTW, just as a little trivia...can anyone tell me what racing game is coming out on PS3 in July?

[TriggerOfDemise]

SquareEnix had already stated last year that the new Fabula Nova Crystallis series will go multiplatform. There are 4 FF13 series:

Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy Agito XIII
Final Fantasy Versus XIII
Final Fantasy Haeresis XIII

360 will most likely get one of them, but just not the main one. Personally, I think the Versus one is the coolest looking one.

[Flesh Warlord]

Omg, pleeeeeease be true. I'm tempted to buy a PS3 just for the FF games :/

[Wu-tang]

SquareEnix had already stated last year that the new Fabula Nova Crystallis series will go multiplatform. There are 4 FF13 series:

Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy Agito XIII
Final Fantasy Versus XIII
Final Fantasy Haeresis XIII

360 will most likely get one of them, but just not the main one. Personally, I think the Versus one is the coolest looking one.

yeah it's going multi-plat because one of the game is going to mobile phones...lol

[xeoset]

yeah it's going multi-plat because one of the game is going to mobile phones...lol

Versus is going DS aswell.

But from what the Sony Executive stated it was "Final Fantasy XIII". SquareEnix would be smart to multi-plat it and with the current situation it's be smart to do so.

[clutch-monkey]

from a game developers point of view, what's the benefit of making a game exclusive to one platform?

[xeoset]

from a game developers point of view, what's the benefit of making a game exclusive to one platform?

Profit.

There are more customers on more consoles. More people, alot more people own a 360, they also have the highest attach rate of all time (apart from PC) thanks to achievement whores. SquareEnix is already a money cow but it'd also be pretty bad when they say they've only catered to their demographic out of 1.6 million PS3 owners.

[Wu-tang]

Profit.

There are more customers on more consoles. More people, alot more people own a 360, they also have the highest attach rate of all time (apart from PC) thanks to achievement whores. SquareEnix is already a money cow but it'd also be pretty bad when they say they've only catered to their demographic out of 1.6 million PS3 owners.

Yeah but people keep forgetting something about FF...it's a system seller. Tons of people will buy the PS3 just for FF games.

[xeoset]

Yeah but people keep forgetting something about FF...it's a system seller. Tons of people will buy the PS3 just for FF games.

But you're forgetting the $600 price tag.

Expensive Console
1.6 Million Install Base
Poor Attach Rate

Affordable Console
10.9 Million Install Base
Record High Attach Rate (In it's time ratio)

If FFXIII was the game I wanted the most out of all games ever, I still wouldn't pay £475 just to play, that's insane. £250 might get a grant, but it's still pretty crazy. But that's looking at it if it was still Exclusive. If you were SquareEnix, on which Console would you want to put your game?

[Frosty]

But you're forgetting the $600 price tag.

Expensive Console
1.6 Million Install Base
Poor Attach Rate

Affordable Console
10.9 Million Install Base
Record High Attach Rate (In it's time ratio)

If FFXIII was the game I wanted the most out of all games ever, I still wouldn't pay £475 just to play, that's insane. £250 might get a grant, but it's still pretty crazy. But that's looking at it if it was still Exclusive. If you were SquareEnix, on which Console would you want to put your game?

The advantages of having it exclusive for Sony would be enormous because many people would likely buy the console for the two biggest exclusives currently known: Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII. However, were FFXIII to go multi-platform, Sony's profits would be a lot less than projected.

Metal Gear Solid 4, in case anyone was wondering, will not be going to the XBox 360, contrary to the rumors. Wait, I should rephrase that. Barring a port coming out after the PS3 version, MGS4 won't be coming to the 360.

If Sony wants to surge up in this "console war", they'd better give SquareEnix some incentive to keep FFXIII on just the PS3 (because that number will grow if FFXIII and MGS4 are released on the PS3). I believe most people are actually waiting to buy the PS3 until a) either one of those two games coems out or b) next Christmas, when the PS3 will have lowered in price.

[xeoset]

The advantages of having it exclusive for Sony would be enormous because many people would likely buy the console for the two biggest exclusives currently known: Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII. However, were FFXIII to go multi-platform, Sony's profits would be a lot less than projected.

Metal Gear Solid 4, in case anyone was wondering, will not be going to the XBox 360, contrary to the rumors. Wait, I should rephrase that. Barring a port coming out after the PS3 version, MGS4 won't be coming to the 360.

If Sony wants to surge up in this "console war", they'd better give SquareEnix some incentive to keep FFXIII on just the PS3 (because that number will grow if FFXIII and MGS4 are released on the PS3). I believe most people are actually waiting to buy the PS3 until a) either one of those two games coems out or b) next Christmas, when the PS3 will have lowered in price.

1) SquareEnix have no affiliation with Sony apart from the fact it's a Company that used to have the biggest install base, as with Nintendo before hand. They have no ties with Sony and Microsoft have everything a Dev. looks for in a Console:

Install Base
Free Dev. Kits/Middleware/etc
Attach Rates
Increasing Sales
...Not forgetting Microsoft could fund them as much as they wanted

2) Why wouldn't MGS4 go to the Xbox 360? Because Sony don't want it to? Again, they have no ties with Sony, etc.

3) If those people waiting on FFXII don't buy a PS3 because they want to wait for it's release is pretty much garunteeing FFXIII goes Multi-Platform. They are potential buyers and not figures. SquareEnix would look at the huge Userbase vs. the small Userbase and make that decision. Potential Buyers mean nothing in the Gaming Industry, your Console is either selling, or it isn't.

4) The PS3 won't be having a Price-Drop this year. It still costs them a $-190-$-205 to make, even with 65 nm Chipsets they'd still be losing money on each sold. And they've still got poor attach rates, both Harsware and Sotware.

[Frosty]

1) SquareEnix have no affiliation with Sony apart from the fact it's a Company that used to have the biggest install base, as with Nintendo before hand. They have no ties with Sony and Microsoft have everything a Dev. looks for in a Console:

Install Base
Free Dev. Kits/Middleware/etc
Attach Rates
Increasing Sales
...Not forgetting Microsoft could fund them as much as they wanted

2) Why wouldn't MGS4 go to the Xbox 360? Because Sony don't want it to? Again, they have no ties with Sony, etc.

3) If those people waiting on FFXII don't buy a PS3 because they want to wait for it's release is pretty much garunteeing FFXIII goes Multi-Platform. They are potential buyers and not figures. SquareEnix would look at the huge Userbase vs. the small Userbase and make that decision. Potential Buyers mean nothing in the Gaming Industry, your Console is either selling, or it isn't.

4) The PS3 won't be having a Price-Drop this year. It still costs them a $-190-$-205 to make, even with 65 nm Chipsets they'd still be losing money on each sold. And they've still got poor attach rates, both Harsware and Sotware.

You didn't have to try and refute my post. My argument was that Sony's best interest would be giving incentive to SquareEnix to have the Final Fantasy series remain exclusive to the PlayStation 3. I know that SquareEnix has no ties to any particular company and that it is their own decision to make. I was trying to point out what would be in Sony's best interest. Clearly SquareEnix's best interest would be to go multi-platform.

#1) With that said, I believe that SquareEnix would have the largest amount of profit if as soon as a PS3 version of FFXIII comes out, they wait a month (for all potential buyers to snatch up PS3s and copies of FFXIII, which will result in more potential buyers for them in the future), then announce a port for the XBox 360. This would likely result in the largest amount of possible customers for SquareEnix.

#2) I know you don't believe GameFaqs is a reliable source (and I know that it's not), but on the MGS4 forums there are several reliable people who have been 100% correct (OnslaughtX and Lionhart, both are aliases). Konami has not released a port since Subsistence (which failed horribly) and Hideo Kojima has stated that if he releases a game (any game), he wants it to be for one console only. With the relationship Kojima and the President of Konami have, it's very doubtful that they can convince Kojima to have the game released for multiple platforms.

However, with that said, it's quite possible that Kojima may develop further games exclusive to the XBox 360. Possibly even another Metal Gear game.

#3) Now, the potential buyer question is a conundrum at this point in time. The XBox 360 has already been out for a year, so it has a larger fan base. However, by that logic, no company should have ever made games for the Wii and PlayStation 3 because XBox 360 already had a built-in fanbase.

Let's face it. We both know the PS3 and Wii fanbase are going to continue to expand, especially with this year's Christmas season (regardless of a price drop or not). With upcoming games, all it takes is one game to make a console worthwhile (see: Halo, and possibly MGS4). One game and all you see in the news magazines and all everyone talks about for a few months is that one game. With PlayStation Home coming out, it's quite likely the PlayStation 3 has more life in it than we originally thought.

#4) Even though this hasn't been addressed, I'm not a fan boy. I've seen attacks against all three consoles, but most commonly against the PlayStation 3. It doesn't help that the two biggest supporters (rand0m: PS3, xeoset: XBox 360) don't seem all that reliable when quotes are taken from disputable sources or are taken for technical purposes. Quality of games is what matters most, not hype or performance (see: the success of the Wii so far).

Again, in my earlier post I was just trying to point out Sony's best way of maximizing profits (which would be by keeping SquareEnix's FFXIII exclusive to their system). Xeoset, you pointed out SquareEnix's best way of maximizing profits. This shows a nice comparison and contrast. I'd rather see more talk like this instead of the senseless insults and flame wars that are so common around here.

[ZeroTigerX]

You didn't have to try and refute my post. My argument was that Sony's best interest would be giving incentive to SquareEnix to have the Final Fantasy series remain exclusive to the PlayStation 3. I know that SquareEnix has no ties to any particular company and that it is their own decision to make. I was trying to point out what would be in Sony's best interest. Clearly SquareEnix's best interest would be to go multi-platform.

#1) With that said, I believe that SquareEnix would have the largest amount of profit if as soon as a PS3 version of FFXIII comes out, they wait a month (for all potential buyers to snatch up PS3s and copies of FFXIII, which will result in more potential buyers for them in the future), then announce a port for the XBox 360. This would likely result in the largest amount of possible customers for SquareEnix.

#2) I know you don't believe GameFaqs is a reliable source (and I know that it's not), but on the MGS4 forums there are several reliable people who have been 100% correct (OnslaughtX and Lionhart, both are aliases). Konami has not released a port since Subsistence (which failed horribly) and Hideo Kojima has stated that if he releases a game (any game), he wants it to be for one console only. With the relationship Kojima and the President of Konami have, it's very doubtful that they can convince Kojima to have the game released for multiple platforms.

However, with that said, it's quite possible that Kojima may develop further games exclusive to the XBox 360. Possibly even another Metal Gear game.

#3) Now, the potential buyer question is a conundrum at this point in time. The XBox 360 has already been out for a year, so it has a larger fan base. However, by that logic, no company should have ever made games for the Wii and PlayStation 3 because XBox 360 already had a built-in fanbase.

Let's face it. We both know the PS3 and Wii fanbase are going to continue to expand, especially with this year's Christmas season (regardless of a price drop or not). With upcoming games, all it takes is one game to make a console worthwhile (see: Halo, and possibly MGS4). One game and all you see in the news magazines and all everyone talks about for a few months is that one game. With PlayStation Home coming out, it's quite likely the PlayStation 3 has more life in it than we originally thought.

#4) Even though this hasn't been addressed, I'm not a fan boy. I've seen attacks against all three consoles, but most commonly against the PlayStation 3. It doesn't help that the two biggest supporters (rand0m: PS3, xeoset: XBox 360) don't seem all that reliable when quotes are taken from disputable sources or are taken for technical purposes. Quality of games is what matters most, not hype or performance (see: the success of the Wii so far).

Again, in my earlier post I was just trying to point out Sony's best way of maximizing profits (which would be by keeping SquareEnix's FFXIII exclusive to their system). Xeoset, you pointed out SquareEnix's best way of maximizing profits. This shows a nice comparison and contrast. I'd rather see more talk like this instead of the senseless insults and flame wars that are so common around here.


I wish fanboys debated like this. Nice post.

[PsiRedEye22]

Surely you all must realize FF started out as a Nintendo product, I don't see how this is any culture shock.