E3 '08: Sony Sheds A Tear For Final Fantasy XIII
The shift of Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII to being a multi-platform release for the west came as a shock to many a fanboy. As one of Sony's constant pillars for wooing prospective buyers, the loss of exclusivity doesn't just sting--it hurts badly. During a roundtable question and answer session today, Sony Computer Entertainment America President and CEO Jack Tretton responded sharply when asked if he was disappointed in Square Enix's move:
"I guess disappointed is clearly an appropriate term.""I think Microsoft has spent the majority of their money on trying to curry favor with third parties. I think it's going to be harder and harder to have third-party exclusives as we move forward."
Whether the multi-platform move was a choice founded on the hope of garnering higher sales, or if the shift was driven explicitly by Microsoft waving suitcases full of cashola, will only be known to those present within closed boardroom sessions.
Then again, Sony's been in this business for well over a decade now. You would think that they would have learned long ago the direct response money brings.
Noun
Posted to Video Games on 16 July 2008
· Comments (7)
Other stuff like this: Final Fantasy 13, Final Fantasy XIII, Jack Tretton, PlayStation 3, Square Enix, Xbox 360
Name: Dave
I think many things pointed towards this but the only thing that made it doubtful was that there hadn't been a multiplatform Final Fantasy (at release anyway) since the original title. The profit loss they announced awhile ago though probably perked Microsoft's ears and made them that much easier to woo...
The truth is that this is probably the easiest console generation for multiplatform since the PS3 and 360 a very close in terms of performance, so much so that I believe literally the average player wouldn't notice the minute difference between the titles, and even then it's always +1/-1 so it seems to level out anyway. The development process is difference but we all knew that... Afterall, that's what they made Crystal Tools for.
I see this as a good thing, not that I don't love Sony but I'm very sick of a lot of sony fans proclaiming the PS3 as if though it is literally Jesus reincarnated, console form. They more than anybody needed a good slap in the face.
I've been gaming for 20+ years now, a LOT of that time was as a Nintendo fanboy. I admit it Sony/Ps was what helped me break out of that mentality. I owned all of the last gen consoles & have all of this gens also.
That being said, I am so tired of Sony's bitching & whining since the PS3's release. They (Ken Kutaragi imho) are the ones who messed up because they thought they were unbeatable, that just because they released their baby everyone would worship it. Now the way they seemingly have multiple personality disorder they're becoming their own worst enemy.
They need to get over themselves & realize from now on their way of doing things isn't viable anymore.
Personally I'm glad FFXIII will be multi, just for the fact it will help Square-Enix produce more games.
On the whole, I'm always glad that more people get to experience Final Fantasy. That said, I'm irritated with Square-Enix for holding out this long on the announcement. This has been in the rumor mill for over a year now, which leads me to suspect this has been in the making for some time. If Square-Enix had even just said, "we're not sure about exclusivity", I think that would have at least stayed many a gamer's PS3 purchase.
As a PS3 owner, I'm also disappointed with Sony's complete incompetence at promoting their console. They keep saying "this is going to be the year" and they keep fucking it up. Now, over 18 months since the console's release, it is quite clear that they pulled a Hillary Clinton and went into this console war expecting to win by inertia alone. I'm actually glad Microsoft and Nintendo have been beating them into the ground, if only for the sake of healthy market competition.
I don't necessarily have anything against Sony, but I'm glad Microsoft has put them in their place so far this hardware generation. I think their success with PS and PS2 went to their heads and they've really shot themselves in the foot with the way they've handled the PS3 - first with the crazy high price point, then with all this nonsense with so many different console versions (a mistake Microsoft has also made, but not with quite such drastic differences), and then the whole issue of inclusion of backwards compatibility in some systems but not others. It's really just a big mess. And now that FFXIII will be on the Xbox 360, I see no compelling reason for me to buy a PS3 in the foreseeable future. I know for sure I won't be buying a system that doesn't have backwards compatibility.
Isn't Versus XIII still a PS3 exclusive? I don't know why the fanboys have their panties in a wad, they still get to buy two Final Fantasy games. And Square-Enix gets to make more money. Everybody wins!
@aj
"I don't know why the fanboys have their panties in a wad?"
because fanboys have no perspective of how the video game industry...heck...life works, and they think that just because a company makes millions/billions, that they can just poop out cash.
the rising cost going in to FFXIII has been stated so many times, that unless Square was gonna charge $200 per copy of the game, they'd never turn a profit on it if it remained on just one console.
i'm surprised that people are surprised by this.
plus, as we all know, fanboys don't know how to share their toys with others.
I'd really be surprised if Versus XIII remained exclusive. It wouldn't make sense to make one multiplatform and not the other. They stand to sell so many more copies if they make both games multiplatform.