Okay, NOW Sony's in touble. (FF related)

[SAMAS]

SCEF(that's french, boy!) Georges Fornay just dropped the bomb that Final Fantasy XIII's exclusivity, rather than being a given, is now "in discussion."

Gamespot

Sony: FFXIII PS3 exclusivity under discussion
Sony France executive says in interview that Square Enix's latest installment may not be exclusive to the console after all.
By Emma Boyes, GameSpot UK
Posted Mar 22, 2007 6:36 am PT

One more platform-exclusive title may be going multiplatform, it has been revealed. The latest news appears to be that Square Enix's latest epic role-playing game, Final Fantasy XIII, may follow other titles--including Saints Row, Assassin's Creed, and Devil May Cry 4--that have now been announced as appearing on at least one other platform as well.

Sony Computer Entertainment France president Georges Fornay dropped the bombshell in an interview with French-language newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace (subscription required). He said, "The development costs of games have exploded, and it has become more difficult to have exclusives, outside of our own games. But we have for launch day [in France] 30 games, including MotorStorm, Resistance: Fall of Man, and Virtua Fighter 5. Moreover, we are expecting 200 games [for the PS3] by the end of 2007... As far as Final Fantasy XIII goes, I can tell you that the exclusivity is in discussion."

Fornay went on to say that he believed that the PS3 would be particularly successful in France, and that there had been approximately 60,000 pre-orders made (compared to 40,000 made for the Xbox 360, and 75,000 for the Wii). France will be getting approximately 150,000 of the one million consoles allocated to PAL regions.

He also answered questions about backwards compatibility for the next-gen console, responding to fears that the console would not support many PS2 titles without the Emotion Engine. Fornay said, "Now, if you ask me whether this was a blow to the launch, I would say that [Sony] would have done better to be sure that the console would be completely backwards compatible before announcing it. But hey, when it becomes clear what the PS3 is capable of, gamers won't really fancy playing PS2 [games] anymore..."

Square Enix had not returned calls to comment as of press time.

If Sony looses Final Fantasy (more than they have already), they're in deep shit.

[SirNitram]

Please, please, please be on the Wii.

I don't care about graphics. Come on. You know you love Nintendo, Square-Enix! You're putting Dragonquest on a Nintendo platform! You're giving them the re-release of your classic 8 and 16 bit FF's! You're even doing Twelve's sequel!

[CaptHawkeye]

The promise of MGS4 on the PS3 now cannot save it. For it sounds almost exactly like Hitler's empty promises of miracle weapons and divine intervention while he hid is his bunker beneath Sony HQ..er Berlin.

I imagine Ken Kutaragi must be succumbing to alcohol abuse at this point.

[Praxis]

Please, please, please be on the Wii.

I don't care about graphics. Come on. You know you love Nintendo, Square-Enix! You're putting Dragonquest on a Nintendo platform! You're giving them the re-release of your classic 8 and 16 bit FF's! You're even doing Twelve's sequel!

As much as I'd love it, I doubt it.

It's more likely they'd just straight port the graphics engine to XBox 360, as it has the horsepower. With the Wii it'd take a total graphical overhaul to the entire game, and when you have games as cutscene-heavy as Final Fantasy that's a lot of work.

I wouldn't be surprised if Final Fantasy XIV was Wii exclusive, however.

[Mr Bean]

If Final Fantasy goes Xbox, there WILL be nothing left but MGS series to keep Sony afloat.

I can't but think that MS is trying giving away free money tree's to Squaresoft. After all, everyone else who went multi-platform is the happier first, Square's corperat masters might not be able to turn down the extra cash.

[Faram]

Muhahaha!

The PS3 releases here tomorrow 23/3, but no fanboys que in sight, and through some strange coincidense MS leaked info about 360 Elite...

The fanboys will get the PS3 for it's bluray, but the rest I predict that they will get a 360 and or a WII

[Darth Raptor]

It's "in discussion". I bet there's strict contractual obligations that Square-Enix has to negotiate around. SCE won't easily surrender one of the two franchises it has remaining. I wouldn't be surprised to see FFXIII on PC or the 360 eventually, but I doubt it will happen before SCE finally gives up the ghost. If FFXIII ever comes to the Wii, I'll eat my hat (but it will be delicious).

[DarkSilver]

-checks the date-

no...it's not april fools yet...

ok, so here's to hoping! While the loss of FF exclutivity will be a major hurt to Sony....it won't stop them overnight....

I can see them being majorly spanked in the console market though by that. (more so than it already is, of course)

[Praxis]

-checks the date-

no...it's not april fools yet...

ok, so here's to hoping! While the loss of FF exclutivity will be a major hurt to Sony....it won't stop them overnight....

I can see them being majorly spanked in the console market though by that. (more so than it already is, of course)

The loss of FF leaves the PS3 with almost no exclusives outside of first-party, MGS, and Insomniac.

I'd say that'll stop it. I know a LOT of people who are thinking of buying PS3's just for FF.

[SirNitram]

As much as I'd love it, I doubt it.

It's more likely they'd just straight port the graphics engine to XBox 360, as it has the horsepower. With the Wii it'd take a total graphical overhaul to the entire game, and when you have games as cutscene-heavy as Final Fantasy that's a lot of work.

I wouldn't be surprised if Final Fantasy XIV was Wii exclusive, however.

On the other hand, you're saying they're going to go over to the X-Box, whose primary market is a demographic Square Enix has nothing to do with, as opposed to Nintendo, which not only has worked with S-E in the past, but has their big names already on it.

[CaptHawkeye]

Their was Killzone 2, but Sony did a hell of a job shooting itself in the foot on that one.

"The trailer was real time gameplay!"
"On second thought, no not really."

[Hotfoot]

Clearly Sony made the right decision in rushing the PS3 out a year early. Gosh darn it don't you guys see? By losing rumble, adding SixAxis, making their users pay for hi-def cables, adding in blu-ray, gimping backwards compatability in the initial release of the US/Japan launch and totally killing it in the European launch, forcing the price to be 150% higher than the nearest competitor at launch, making sure that hit PS2 games keep coming out, stupid fucking viral marketing routines, and totally lying to consumers at every trade show since it was announced have all contributed to making it a huge success! Xbox 360's are just sitting in storage! No one is buying them! 360 fails because it doesn't have wi-fi! None of this matters! The only market in the world is Japan! Final Fantasy will never go to the 360 because it doesn't exist in Japan! I'm not biased because I like Wii!

In all seriousness, I have to laugh at this. FF13 might head straight for the Wii, but FF Fanatics might not enjoy the downgrade in graphics they'd have to face by such a move. I think it's possible that with enough money, Microsoft might be able to make a successful bid, which would certainly go a ways towards helping their case in Japan, as well as sounding a real death knell for Sony everywhere else. The idea of Final Fantasy being spread across three platforms is a weird notion though.

[SirNitram]

Xbox 360's are just sitting in storage! No one is buying them! 360 fails because it doesn't have wi-fi! None of this matters! The only market in the world is Japan! Final Fantasy will never go to the 360 because it doesn't exist in Japan! I'm not biased because I like Wii!

Was this tirade aimed at me? If you think it's 'Dur, 360 sux!' that's my argument, go play in traffic. I put rather more into it than that; I didn't even talk about 360 penetration in Japan(Because it's irrelevent: Dragonquest is their home country monster, and that's already been popped onto the DS, because it's never been about graphics).

[Ace Pace]

No, it's for Xis..whatever is his full name.

[Hotfoot]

Was this tirade aimed at me? If you think it's 'Dur, 360 sux!' that's my argument, go play in traffic. I put rather more into it than that; I didn't even talk about 360 penetration in Japan(Because it's irrelevent: Dragonquest is their home country monster, and that's already been popped onto the DS, because it's never been about graphics).

Not in the slightest. Those are all arguments Xissy's used in the past which I was lampooning. I tried to add meaningful discussion after that, but in hindsight, I suppose the [/Xissy] tag should have stayed in the final edit of that post.

I agree, the fact that DQ is already with Nintendo would seriously imply that's where Final Fantasy is going, but Microsoft would be stupid not to throw as much money as they could at getting FF for 360, especially if they could keep it from Sony entirely.

[SirNitram]

Was this tirade aimed at me? If you think it's 'Dur, 360 sux!' that's my argument, go play in traffic. I put rather more into it than that; I didn't even talk about 360 penetration in Japan(Because it's irrelevent: Dragonquest is their home country monster, and that's already been popped onto the DS, because it's never been about graphics).

Not in the slightest. Those are all arguments Xissy's used in the past which I was lampooning. I tried to add meaningful discussion after that, but in hindsight, I suppose the [/Xissy] tag should have stayed in the final edit of that post.

I agree, the fact that DQ is already with Nintendo would seriously imply that's where Final Fantasy is going, but Microsoft would be stupid not to throw as much money as they could at getting FF for 360, especially if they could keep it from Sony entirely.

I have no doubt Microsoft is slobbering over themselves at the chance to net FF and kill their 'Frat-Boy Demographic' image they built for themselves. But I think it's more complex than that. Going from Platform-Exclusive with a title to diverse, you have to consider a number of things, and one is known quantities. Nintendo is a known quantity for S-E: They used to host the main FF series and did good for it. They now host things like the FF12 spinoff, and DQ, their real flagship series.

The graphical stepdown would be a big thing, so I wouldn't rule out them porting to X-Box. But I am going to say my prediction is they will go to Nintendo first. Plus, the low development kit cost for Nintendo actually works in both 360's and Wii's favour in this, oddly: The cost of doing both would not be bank-breaking, and allows S-E to both reconnect with Nintendo loyalists and reach out to 360 players(Though I would add in that 'storytelling' CRPG's do worse on the 360 than 'Sandbox' ones. I'd honestly expect a port of Fallout 3 to the 360 before a FF, but we'll see.).

[Sharp-kun]

Please, please, please be on the Wii.

I really doubt it. Its been developed for PS3 as it is. They can either alter it for 360, or completely overhaul it to run on a console that has the power of the last gen. Which do you think they'll do?

The loss of FF leaves the PS3 with almost no exclusives outside of first-party, MGS, and Insomniac.

Nippon Ichi games.

[SirNitram]

Please, please, please be on the Wii.

I really doubt it. Its been developed for PS3 as it is. They can either alter it for 360, or completely overhaul it to run on a console that has the power of the last gen. Which do you think they'll do?

Graphical downgrade to go with a known, reliable partner they've entrusted their real baby, the DQ series with, or go with a complete unknown just because of graphical power.

Throw in that the Wii's development kit is alot cheaper?

Not half as cut-and-dry as the 'ZOMG IT WOULD LOWER GRAFIX!!!!' bleating would indicate.

[Hotfoot]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the 360's dev kit, you know, free?

Don't get me wrong, gimping the graphics on the game would be easy as hell, and the pre-existing relationship is a very strong factor, but the real difference on the cost to development would be how much they would have to change the coding for Wii and/or 360. No doubt if they port to Wii they'll be compelled to work in the Wiimote in some way, like some minigame or some such, which would add extra time (and money) in development. Meanwhile, the port to 360 would have roughly the same hardware changing problems that they would have going to the Wii, so I really see it being cheaper in the grand scheme of things.

[SirNitram]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the 360's dev kit, you know, free?

I have never heard of a console's devkit being free. I wouldn't be surprised if they might toss some developers free copies because Microsoft is happily shovelling it's profits into the hole marked 'Console Market' to try and gain dominance, but I've never heard any indication it's free.

A quick Google shows that there were rumours of either a free for anyone with an XP machine kit, or a 100-buck pricetag. It's possible it's free, though.

Don't get me wrong, gimping the graphics on the game would be easy as hell, and the pre-existing relationship is a very strong factor, but the real difference on the cost to development would be how much they would have to change the coding for Wii and/or 360. No doubt if they port to Wii they'll be compelled to work in the Wiimote in some way, like some minigame or some such, which would add extra time (and money) in development. Meanwhile, the port to 360 would have roughly the same hardware changing problems that they would have going to the Wii, so I really see it being cheaper in the grand scheme of things.

Hardware's not going to be the decider, that's certain. FF's growing obsession with minigames suggests to me they'd love to get their hands on a WiiMote, but that might be saved for fourteen or spinoffs like Twelve's.

Again, I see this as ultimately coming down to what Microsoft is willing to put on the table to counteract the Wii's automatic 'known quantity' advantage. Though I will laugh if neither gets it and it goes to the DS, much like some other S-E titles.

[Sharp-kun]

Graphical downgrade to go with a known, reliable partner they've entrusted their real baby, the DQ series with, or go with a complete unknown just because of graphical power.

One of the major selling points of the big FF games has always been the graphics. I don't see 13 being any different.

[Ace Pace]

A quick Google shows that there were rumours of either a free for anyone with an XP machine kit, or a 100-buck pricetag. It's possible it's free, though.

It refers to the public version of XNA, which, while a neat developer toolset, is NOT the full thing.

[SirNitram]

Graphical downgrade to go with a known, reliable partner they've entrusted their real baby, the DQ series with, or go with a complete unknown just because of graphical power.

One of the major selling points of the big FF games has always been the graphics. I don't see 13 being any different.

Graphics.

Yea, not buying it. Your logic requires that FF3 should have been reworked for the PS3, not the DS. That FF12's spinoff shouldn't be on the DS. The DS has the graphical capabities of the N64.. Yet they're happy to work on it.

[Hotfoot]

I have never heard of a console's devkit being free. I wouldn't be surprised if they might toss some developers free copies because Microsoft is happily shovelling it's profits into the hole marked 'Console Market' to try and gain dominance, but I've never heard any indication it's free.

A quick Google shows that there were rumours of either a free for anyone with an XP machine kit, or a 100-buck pricetag. It's possible it's free, though.

It appears that we're both right, there's a free version for consumers/hobbyists with less features, but you still have to pay for the actual version if you make commercial games.

Hardware's not going to be the decider, that's certain. FF's growing obsession with minigames suggests to me they'd love to get their hands on a WiiMote, but that might be saved for fourteen or spinoffs like Twelve's.

The only 12 spinoff I'm aware of is for the DS, but yeah.

Again, I see this as ultimately coming down to what Microsoft is willing to put on the table to counteract the Wii's automatic 'known quantity' advantage. Though I will laugh if neither gets it and it goes to the DS, much like some other S-E titles.

Given that the engine is already complete and screenshots are coming out, I'd be shocked if it went to DS at this point. That's a huge amount of wasted time and money.

[Darth Raptor]

FFXI is already on the 360. Since 2002, Square-Enix has adopted a strategy of developing as many games possible for as many different systems as possible. Exclusive contracts from the Squaresoft period are getting in the way of that. FFXI in particular is an extremely abitious multi-platform project; being on the PC, PS2, X-box 360 and eventually the PS3.