Real Talk From The HipHopGamer » Why Announcing Final Fantasy XIII For The Xbox 360 Is Only The Beginning (The Complete Version)

Why Announcing Final Fantasy XIII For The Xbox 360 Is Only The Beginning (The Complete Version)

Posted by Master Samo | Microsoft, Real Talk with the HipHopGamer | Friday 29 May 2009 6:04 pm

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If you pay close attention to the Square-Microsoft relationship and its progression, you would begin to notice a pattern materializing before your very eyes. The pattern is more like water testing. Let me explain, if you are at a lake, and you suddenly feel the need to swim, your first thought would not be to jump in; the first thing you would normally do is test the water temperature; if it’s too cold and you are still feeling the urge to jump in, then you would need to slowly and gradually immerse yourself, in order to avoid jolting your system with a sudden temperature shift, until you are completely immersed in water; only at that point will you be able to swim freely and enjoy the experience. That is exactly what Square-Enix has done.

If you notice the gradual story progression of the Square-developed titles for the Xbox 360, you would easily be able to predict where things are going. In April of 2006, they released Final Fantasy XI Online, a title that was released, over two years prior to the Xbox 360 version, on both the PS2 and PC, and was therefore, nothing more than a port of a title that Square had already profited from. In July of 2007, they released Project Sylpheed, a third-person space shooter from a genre that is not one of Square’s strong points.

In September of 2008, they released Infinite Undiscovery, a JRPG title developed by tri-Ace, one of Square’s most important second-party developers. In November of 2008, they released The Last Remnant, a JRPG title, developed by Square’s internal studio, that was initially announced as a multiplatform title, but was suddenly released as an Xbox 360 exclusive. Finally, after being fully immersed in the Xbox 360 waters, in February of 2009, they released Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope, a JRPG title, developed by tri-Ace, that was a sequel to one of Square’s biggest first-party franchises, exclusively on Microsoft’s console!

If we also add the fact that, at E3 08, Square-Enix announced Final Fantasy XIII as a multiplatform title, and the fact that Front Mission Evolved has been recently announced for the Xbox 360, it would be quite clear to us where things are going. Therefore, it is my belief that in 2009, one or more of the following predictions will surely be realized:

1. Final Fantasy XIII will finally be announced for the Xbox 360 in Japan.

2. Final Fantasy Versus XIII will finally be announced as a multiplatform title.

3. Kingdom Hearts 3 will be announced as an Xbox 360 exclusive!

On a side note, to any gamer that was not able to survive my last prediction, may you rest in peace.

Back to the topic at hand, if you still doubt my words, then let me explain my reasoning behind this from another angle:

First, given the fact that Star Ocean 4 had both the highest first-day sales and first-week sales in the history of Microsoft in Japan, and the fact that, in the Land of the Rising Sun, the Xbox 360 currently has an installed base of over one million console owners, a large library of exclusive AAA JRPG titles, a tempting price tag, and a new reputation, it would not be too hard to figure out why Square has decided to continue their relationship with Microsoft and why they would decide to release Final Fantasy XIII in Japan; after all, they know that if released, it would easily surpass the Star Ocean 4 numbers and would become the best selling game in Microsoft’s history there.

Second, in case anyone wants to argue that Tetsuya Nomura, Director of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, does not have any experience with the Xbox 360 hardware, and, as a result, would not be able to develop it for the Microsoft console, you need to understand that all Square needs to do is outsource the Xbox 360 project to another internal studio that is familiar with its hardware and assign them to take over the task of porting the game to Microsoft’s machine. Furthermore, if anyone wants to argue that its trailer contained “Only on PS3″, you need to remember that the first trailer for Final Fantasy XIII had the same statement, and yet here we are waiting for the simultaneous release of this title in 2010!

In fact, the first trailer for Final Fantasy Versus XIII only contained “On PS3″, which lead gamers to expect that this title might actually have a chance to be released as a multiplatform title as a compensation to Microsoft for not receiving Final Fantasy XIII on their console. In other words, statements in trailers are meaningless nowadays; thus, expect the unexpected from Square this year regarding Versus XIII.

Third, if anyone would like to argue that Kingdom Hearts 3 will not be announced this year simply because Nomura, the Character Designer of the Kingdom Hearts series and the Director of both installments on the PS2, is already hard at work on Versus XIII, and, as a result, would not be able to work on the third installment now, you need to understand that the solution to this issue is quite simple. All they have to do is outsource the project to another internal studio, and reassign over 40% of Nomura’s team, that had previously worked on the Kingdom Hearts franchise, to that project in order to benefit from their experience with the franchise.

More importantly, in addition to mainly focusing on the Versus XIII, Nomura can also oversee the Kingdom Hearts 3 project. All he needs to do is design the macro-concept of the game and then allow the other internal studio to execute the project with his supervision. This is a very well-known strategy to give developers time to focus on multiple projects simultaneously; Sakaguchi used it for Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey by outsourcing them to Artoon and Feelplus respectively, and Lorne Lanning is currently using it for his next Oddworld game by outsourcing it to Maxis.

Lastly, let me ask you this: why would gamers assume that it would be necessary to have Nomura on the Kingdom Hearts 3 project anyway? After all, David Jaffe was not involved in the second installment of his creation, and it turned out fine; Cory Barlog, the Creative Director of God of War2, was not involved in the upcoming third installment, and we all know how that will turn out. If we also add the fact that the main reason for supporting the Xbox 360 was to break through to the Western market, and the fact that Kingdom Hearts is more directed towards Western gamers, especially by including the Disney characters in the game, it would be wise to assume that if Square ever decided to release this title on a single console, the Xbox 360 would be it. Despite the fact that a multiplatform release would be the best possible strategy, if there is one thing that we have learned from following the evolution of the Square-Microsoft relationship, it is that Square-Enix does not mind releasing exclusives on the Xbox 360. Thus, it is my belief that not only could Kingdom Hearts 3 be announced this year, but it has a very good chance of being an Xbox 360 exclusive as well!

God Bless You All

Master Samo

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