Final Fantasy XIII is coming to the 360!!...

[dave4shmups]

its FF right? I really cant understand why Sony boys are getting in a huff about it. Did the nintendo boys kick up anywhere near this fuss when sony "took" it away from them? did anyone really care when The GBA tactics and the Gamecube game came out not on a sony system. games swap systems all the time. go where the money is get yourself some tasty profit margins square-enix big wigs! Im sure the buy out of square is still being paid off now

Because Sony only had 3 big exclusives on the PS3 before this announcement: MGS4, FFXIII and GoW3. GoW3 wasn't even announced until this week. too. This just takes away another reason for people to get a PS3 when the 360 is cheaper and/or they already have it.

Not that the 360 has, well, ANY major exclusives that I can recall (all major releases get ported to PC at least). Maybe some RPGs are 360 exclusive, but I don't follow those.

Cheaper depends on which 360 sku your are talking about, and how you look at the bigger picture. Sony announced, at their press conference, that the 80 Gig model is going down to $399.99 this fall. With that, you can game online for free, get a Blu-Ray player, and it costs you nothing to pick up a wireless internet signal. And better durability, our store has been open almost a year, and we've never had a PS3 come back defective. It's pretty telling that the warranty for the PS3 is one year, while it's still 3 years for the 360.

With the 360 you have more exclusives, but you have to pay $100 just to pick up a wireless signal, and $50 for XBL gold, which is really the only level worth having. So you're paying a lot more then what the 80 gig will cost, for things that should be included for free. Granted, we got these $69.00 Pelican wireless 360 units in our store about a month ago, but that's not a brand that I trust that much.

There should have at least been a price drop for the Elite-since the Pro's $299.00, why not make the Elite $399.99?

Trust me, I like the library of the 360 far, far better then the PS3's, but unless MS addresses the durability and the wireless issue, (and I get a job with a fatter paycheck!) I'm not buying either one.

[Daedalus]

its FF right? I really cant understand why Sony boys are getting in a huff about it. Did the nintendo boys kick up anywhere near this fuss when sony "took" it away from them? did anyone really care when The GBA tactics and the Gamecube game came out not on a sony system. games swap systems all the time. go where the money is get yourself some tasty profit margins square-enix big wigs! Im sure the buy out of square is still being paid off now

Because Sony only had 3 big exclusives on the PS3 before this announcement: MGS4, FFXIII and GoW3. GoW3 wasn't even announced until this week. too. This just takes away another reason for people to get a PS3 when the 360 is cheaper and/or they already have it.

Not that the 360 has, well, ANY major exclusives that I can recall (all major releases get ported to PC at least). Maybe some RPGs are 360 exclusive, but I don't follow those.

Cheaper depends on which 360 sku your are talking about, and how you look at the bigger picture. Sony announced, at their press conference, that the 80 Gig model is going down to $399.99 this fall. With that, you can game online for free, get a Blu-Ray player, and it costs you nothing to pick up a wireless internet signal. And better durability, our store has been open almost a year, and we've never had a PS3 come back defective. It's pretty telling that the warranty for the PS3 is one year, while it's still 3 years for the 360.

With the 360 you have more exclusives, but you have to pay $100 just to pick up a wireless signal, and $50 for XBL gold, which is really the only level worth having. So you're paying a lot more then what the 80 gig will cost, for things that should be included for free. Granted, we got these $69.00 Pelican wireless 360 units in our store about a month ago, but that's not a brand that I trust that much.

There should have at least been a price drop for the Elite-since the Pro's $299.00, why not make the Elite $399.99?

Trust me, I like the library of the 360 far, far better then the PS3's, but unless MS addresses the durability and the wireless issue, (and I get a job with a fatter paycheck!) I'm not buying either one.

Hahaha, you certainly wouldn't be trying to argue that a longer warranty is a bad thing, would you?

The durability issue has been fixed. It was because of a poor design that led to overheating, and has been fixed in the current motherboard (Holiday of 2007 and later)

As for the wireless issue, I have to agree with you... charging such exorbitant prices for all peripherals is pretty bad form (especially since it probably would have cost them $10 more to add wireless functionality to the console).

But as for the subscription fee, you're getting a lot with an Xbox gold subscription. I don't think $4 a month is too much to ask, and until Sony starts to threaten their online service I don't see it changing.



EDIT: I'd like to expand a bit on the warranty. The 360 failures were due to a known manufacturing problem, and recognizing this Microsoft retroactively extended all old warranties as well as new warranties.

An unexpected jump in sales in holiday 2007 made Xbox Live get swamped, hurting server performance for about a week. As an apology for the poor service suffered by the customers, Microsoft gave everyone an opportunity to download the highly rated game "Undertow" for free.

Microsoft did have some problems in the early phases, but I think it's fair to say that they took care of their customers.

[dave4shmups]

Because Sony only had 3 big exclusives on the PS3 before this announcement: MGS4, FFXIII and GoW3. GoW3 wasn't even announced until this week. too. This just takes away another reason for people to get a PS3 when the 360 is cheaper and/or they already have it.

Not that the 360 has, well, ANY major exclusives that I can recall (all major releases get ported to PC at least). Maybe some RPGs are 360 exclusive, but I don't follow those.

Cheaper depends on which 360 sku your are talking about, and how you look at the bigger picture. Sony announced, at their press conference, that the 80 Gig model is going down to $399.99 this fall. With that, you can game online for free, get a Blu-Ray player, and it costs you nothing to pick up a wireless internet signal. And better durability, our store has been open almost a year, and we've never had a PS3 come back defective. It's pretty telling that the warranty for the PS3 is one year, while it's still 3 years for the 360.

With the 360 you have more exclusives, but you have to pay $100 just to pick up a wireless signal, and $50 for XBL gold, which is really the only level worth having. So you're paying a lot more then what the 80 gig will cost, for things that should be included for free. Granted, we got these $69.00 Pelican wireless 360 units in our store about a month ago, but that's not a brand that I trust that much.

There should have at least been a price drop for the Elite-since the Pro's $299.00, why not make the Elite $399.99?

Trust me, I like the library of the 360 far, far better then the PS3's, but unless MS addresses the durability and the wireless issue, (and I get a job with a fatter paycheck!) I'm not buying either one.

Hahaha, you certainly wouldn't be trying to argue that a longer warranty is a bad thing, would you?

The durability issue has been fixed. It was because of a poor design that led to overheating, and has been fixed in the current motherboard (Holiday of 2007 and later)

As for the wireless issue, I have to agree with you... charging such exorbitant prices for all peripherals is pretty bad form (especially since it probably would have cost them $10 more to add wireless functionality to the console).

But as for the subscription fee, you're getting a lot with an Xbox gold subscription. I don't think $4 a month is too much to ask, and until Sony starts to threaten their online service I don't see it changing.



EDIT: I'd like to expand a bit on the warranty. The 360 failures were due to a known manufacturing problem, and recognizing this Microsoft retroactively extended all old warranties as well as new warranties.

An unexpected jump in sales in holiday 2007 made Xbox Live get swamped, hurting server performance for about a week. As an apology for the poor service suffered by the customers, Microsoft gave everyone an opportunity to download the highly rated game "Undertow" for free.

Microsoft did have some problems in the early phases, but I think it's fair to say that they took care of their customers.

I agree with you in that they did take care of their customers after the holidays, but if they fixed the 360's durability issues, then why are people still getting the three red rings? Most of the people I know with a 360 have a fan on it when it's on, to avoid overheating. Why not come out with an official announcement about the new motherboard , which MS has never done?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's still a guessing game as to whether or not you're getting a 360 with the better motherboard. Because, I've heard of all sorts of ways that you are "supposed" to be able to tell, from sku numbers to different power bricks.

[Dremark]

Now that microsoft users have their slice of Nomura, can I have back Matsuno, regardless of platform, and whatever game is he working on?

Please Matsuno come back... RPGs simply don't exist without you.

I remember reading a rumor about a year ago that Square had hired Matsuno back to do a new Ogre Battle series game. I knew it was false when I read it, but I so wanted it to be true.

[Dremark]

I think Nintendo fans were far more crushed when FFVII, and Square, went Sony exclusive, but the internet was far less active at the time so you didn't hear nearly as much whining.

Honestly, the crying i'm seeing about this is pretty minor in comparison to what I saw on the internet when FF7 went to PS1. Within a few weeks this will pretty much be accepted and forgotten about anyways.

[kengou]

Entirely untrue. Microsoft made a damn good product, because Sony failed to do anything other than rely on their market dominance to keep pushing a feature-barren system. In the interest of full disclosure, allow me to list some of Sony's problems:

I'm not arguing about Sony, they've made plenty of mistakes and I'm not a big fan of theirs. Saying that Sony sucks is not a valid argument to explain why you believe Microsoft made a good product.

1. Online features. Yeah, you have to pay for Xbox Live, but the servers are always there. Small developers can make games online-capable without needing the resources to maintain their old servers. If I want, I can even go back to original Xbox launch games and play them online - something I can't do with my PS2. Furthermore, Microsoft has continually developed their online services while Sony has struggled to play catchup.

Compare this to the PC, which has had online play for far longer than any console. Developers have always supported their own servers at no cost to the players. Steam has all the features of Xbox Live, including a unified friends list, achievements (useless crap but it's there anyway), online game downloads and support for indie games with Steam Works and the Source SDK/Hammer editor, anti-cheat software, and built-in voice chat. All entirely free of charge. Many PC games have free, solid match-making, ladders and tournament hosting as well. This is the precedent, and Microsoft decided that they just felt like charging for what gamers have been getting free for years. It's ridiculous. It's meant entirely to cater to 3rd party devs, to make them want to develop for the 360 because they'll make more money while the gamers themselves spend more unnecessarily. It's a brilliant business plan, no doubt, but it sucks for us gamers and it's still evil.

2. Fairness in price and hardware. Microsoft built a good system intended for gaming and was able to offer it at a reasonable price. Sony's system was built the way it was not just to be a good system, but because they wanted to recoup development costs on their Cell chip and they wanted to expand Bluray marketshare by forcing gamers to adopt it over HD-DVD. Microsoft didn't lock its customers into a format that wasn't necessary, and wasn't even a sure bet.

This I agree with for the most part. They hit a good price point and I can't stand how Sony forced Blu-Ray on everyone with a PS3 (it's one of my main deterrents for not buying one so far, I just plain have no interest in Blu-Ray).

3. Exclusivity deals - historically, Sony has had far more system exclusive games that the Xbox. Many original Xbox exclusives were small developers doing niche games (Ex: Kingdom under Fire, Phantom Dust). Particularly when Sony had the support of major franchises (Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid) Microsoft needed something to add value to their console. All console manufacturers seek out these kinds of games, so you can hardly fault Microsoft for it.

I suppose not. A valid point. I still see it as part of a larger Microsoft trend of engulfing any developers they want, regardless of whether they are accomplishing this in the short term. Maybe I'm just cynical but this is still exactly how they started out on the PC market.

4. Microsoft treats its hobbyists better. They have a great (and free) SDK for the 360 (which I'm actually using to make a shmup for when community games launches this winter). And most importantly, they give you full access to the GPU.

And Microsoft takes 30% of the profits even if you develop the game entirely by yourself. If you have a game that isn't built for the 360, and you let Microsoft port it, they take 60%. Compare this to developing a game for Steam using Valve's Source engine. if you purchase the engine to use for your game, you get 100% of the profits from sales on Steam. In my opinion that's exactly what the developer deserves. Now, I'm not saying Sony is much better than MS, or Nintendo for that matter; I don't know how they handle indie game releases on their respective consoles. I'm merely talking about MS here, and I happen to think they shouldn't be doing what they're doing if they really cared about the gamers.

Sorry guys, but even Microsoft can't just buy market share. You have to make a good product, and Microsoft has done that.

They have always "bought" market share through tricks instead of through good products. Windows is horrible but for all the 3rd party software you can (and usually MUST) get for Windows only. Same with the 360. The RROD is a widespread and a really major problem that should never happen on a console. Hell, my SNES still works after something like 10 years. I never had my PS2 break whatsoever (yes I've heard of some problems but they weren't nearly as widespread as the RROD). MS has stated the RROD has the potential to effect 100% of their consoles. They designed it so poorly that it's prone to overheating no matter how ventilated it is. That's just ridiculous.

I'm not debating that the 360 has good games on it (although not much that I personally want beyond Ketsui). This is all part of MS's strategy to get the console with all the most high-quality games, exclusive. That's what they want in the long-term. Sure, every company wants that, but MS will probably do it, and they will do it through really evil ways.

[Ed Oscuro]

I think Nintendo fans were far more crushed when FFVII, and Square, went Sony exclusive, but the internet was far less active at the time so you didn't hear nearly as much whining.

Honestly, the crying i'm seeing about this is pretty minor in comparison to what I saw on the internet when FF7 went to PS1. Within a few weeks this will pretty much be accepted and forgotten about anyways.

I wasn't even around for the FFVII crying and yet I read about it with great frequency from 2002 onwards - so there will still major scars on that one

[Dremark]

I wasn't even around for the FFVII crying and yet I read about it with great frequency from 2002 onwards - so there will still major scars on that one

Yeah, it's pretty obvious the scars on that one never really healed for some people. Personally I was shocked initially, but I got over it when i realized that Nintendo didn't design their console (N64) to suit my needs.

This isn't even really comparable though, it's just a port, PS3 players will still get to play it, and they'll even have an exclusive game for themselves anyway. I personally couldn't care less as Final Fantasy really doesn't mean anything anymore with Sakaguchi gone. The only reason I even bothered with XII was because Matsuno worked on it.

[jp]

I personally couldn't care less as Final Fantasy really doesn't mean anything anymore with Sakaguchi gone.

Indeed. And I think anyone who played Lost Odyssey could see where FF's genius came from.

Honestly, I would have much rather had Lost Odyssey 2 announced than the FFXIII port. Or at least have seen some of Cry On.

[doctorx0079]

I work with a guy who is in his mid 30's who pretty much echoed the sentiment of that gamefaqs post. When I asked him "Wait, you're talking about a video game, right?" He got red in the face and told me "You don't understand at all." He then left work after half his shift because he was upset and couldn't focus. I guess I understand that video games are, in fact, a business and this makes perfect sense to me.

As pathetic as that is, what I really don't get is the part about how when it becomes available on another console it ruins your life. Huh? You can play Sonic the Hedgehog on Wii VC now, is that some kind of travesty? As the AVGN would say, it makes no fuckin' sense! This is like complaining that Sony DVDs will play on a Philips DVD player too. WTF???

[Dremark]

Indeed. And I think anyone who played Lost Odyssey could see where FF's genius came from.

Honestly, I would have much rather had Lost Odyssey 2 announced than the FFXIII port. Or at least have seen some of Cry On.

Was Lost Odyssey really that good? maybe i'll have to pick that up when i get around to buying a 360. I almost don't want to just because the packaging for the discs was so bad.

[Daedalus]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's still a guessing game as to whether or not you're getting a 360 with the better motherboard. Because, I've heard of all sorts of ways that you are "supposed" to be able to tell, from sku numbers to different power bricks.

AFAIK all 360s with an HDMI port should be good.

Compare this to the PC, which has had online play for far longer than any console. Developers have always supported their own servers at no cost to the players.

Many developers have, and those who didn't had the option of allowing players to organize their own internet games. This is not quite as viable on a console, so developers are pretty much required to have their games work from a centralized server. Now, many smaller developers are going to look at that and simply decide that they can't afford to host a server like that. Having Microsoft handle the servers improves the 360 game library by allowing developers to implement features like that regardless of their capacity to deliver them.

This can even be a burden for larger companies. If you are a fan of the Metal Gear Solid series, you may remember that the online play for Metal Gear Solid 3 was shut down in America less than a year after its release because Konami felt there wasn't a high enough adoption by the fans. This kind of situation isn't a problem with Xbox Live.

And Microsoft takes 30% of the profits even if you develop the game entirely by yourself. If you have a game that isn't built for the 360, and you let Microsoft port it, they take 60%. Compare this to developing a game for Steam using Valve's Source engine. if you purchase the engine to use for your game, you get 100% of the profits from sales on Steam. In my opinion that's exactly what the developer deserves. Now, I'm not saying Sony is much better than MS, or Nintendo for that matter; I don't know how they handle indie game releases on their respective consoles. I'm merely talking about MS here, and I happen to think they shouldn't be doing what they're doing if they really cared about the gamers.

If you use Microsoft's SDK to make a PC game, you can sell it on PC without giving Microsoft anything -You don't even have to pay them for the SDK. But consoles are generally sold at a loss, and the company makes a profit through licensing games. It would be nice if a developer could keep every cent they bring in, but realistically, Microsoft deserves a share as well.

Getting a game accepted for Live Arcade is a pretty sweet deal. There are limited spots for arcade releases, and Microsoft markets your game to a captive audience of 20 million people. I would gladly give up 30% of revenues for that opportunity.

They have always "bought" market share through tricks instead of through good products. Windows is horrible but for all the 3rd party software you can (and usually MUST) get for Windows only.

Ah, my friend, this is simply not true. Linux is a wonderful operating system, and you can get a free Linux alternative to nearly every supposedly necessary Windows program. (Anyone interested in open source software in general should check out http://www.osalt.com/).

However, Linux isn't that easy to use. Ironically, Windows really isn't that terrible of a product - its failures stem from being designed for ease of use (It loads excessive drivers for better compatibility, which slows down the system. It is made so you don't have to jump through any hoops to install programs or connect to the internet, which opens the gate for malware. etc etc). Really, Windows is a good product in that it fulfills its intended purpose (Which is to be a simple product to use - not to be stable or secure).

The RROD is a widespread and a really major problem that should never happen on a console.

I agree. Microsoft shouldn't have rushed to market. They've suffered both repair costs and the goodwill of their customers because of it.

I'm not debating that the 360 has good games on it (although not much that I personally want beyond Ketsui)

Hahaha, one thing I am pissed at Microsoft for is shooting down any possibility of bringing Cave games to Live Arcade. Yet they manage to fill it with shit like "Coffeetime Crosswords".... blech. And I have a NA 360, so it doesn't look like I'll be picking up the DDP/Ketsui retail project either...

[jp]

Indeed. And I think anyone who played Lost Odyssey could see where FF's genius came from.

Honestly, I would have much rather had Lost Odyssey 2 announced than the FFXIII port. Or at least have seen some of Cry On.

Was Lost Odyssey really that good? maybe i'll have to pick that up when i get around to buying a 360. I almost don't want to just because the packaging for the discs was so bad.

Lost Odyssey is amazing. The writing in it is second to nothing. The character developement is just insane.

Seriously man, they may have botched on the graphics in the in-game cut scenes and the villain may be a bit of a dork, but the only Final Fantasy thats better than LO is VI. Everything else pales in comparison. LO gets bonus points for destroying "level grinding" and FORCING the player to strategize (and for being hard as nails in so far as JRPGs go).

[Ex-Cyber]

AFAIK all 360s with an HDMI port should be good.

From what I've heard, they are not really "good", just less bad. That is, they fixed the biggest RROD problems, but they pretty much rushed that too, much like they rushed the original design and production. So the failure rates are down, but reportedly still pretty high by comparison to other products of similar complexity.

you can get a free Linux alternative to nearly every supposedly necessary Windows program.

There are plenty of options for the basic stuff like web browsing, office apps, and so on, but there is simply a huge amount of specialized software that does not and in all likelihood will not exist for anything other than Windows. In many cases no viable alternative exists on any platform, including Windows.

[junkeR]

Indeed. And I think anyone who played Lost Odyssey could see where FF's genius came from.

Honestly, I would have much rather had Lost Odyssey 2 announced than the FFXIII port. Or at least have seen some of Cry On.

Was Lost Odyssey really that good? maybe i'll have to pick that up when i get around to buying a 360. I almost don't want to just because the packaging for the discs was so bad.

Lost Odyssey is amazing. The writing in it is second to nothing. The character developement is just insane.

Seriously man, they may have botched on the graphics in the in-game cut scenes and the villain may be a bit of a dork, but the only Final Fantasy thats better than LO is VI. Everything else pales in comparison. LO gets bonus points for destroying "level grinding" and FORCING the player to strategize (and for being hard as nails in so far as JRPGs go).

Wow, jp, your description of the game really makes me want to try it.

[kengou]

you can get a free Linux alternative to nearly every supposedly necessary Windows program.

There are plenty of options for the basic stuff like web browsing, office apps, and so on, but there is simply a huge amount of specialized software that does not and in all likelihood will not exist for anything other than Windows. In many cases no viable alternative exists on any platform, including Windows.

Pretty much what I was going to say. I use Linux as often as possible but since I play so many PC games I still NEED to have Windows installed. There's really no way around it. Wine isn't stable enough nor does it support enough games to use for everything new that comes along. As soon as it does I'm wiping Windows for good, but the fact of the matter is I have no choice if I want to play PC games. Microsoft takes away that choice by locking in developers with incentives for using DirectX instead of OpenGL, among other things.

[neorichieb1971]

Taken from elsewhere. I can't verify the translation but basically its saying the S-E developers want work on 360, not PS3.

http://hissi.org/read.php/ff/20080717/eEJjNU5VbEIw.html


Translation as I found it elsewhere -

Well there is no assertion but some seem credible (the first), others not.

1st October, Square Enix is expected to announce the creation of Square Enix Holdings, which becomes the new home of Squenix, with funds 100% auto finance.
Sony will have absolutely no right in this new society is the way to get rid of SE shares that Sony has.

The FF XIII PS3 exclusivity in Japan may fall ... As Versus, SO4 pass out under conditions (see below). Last remnant might even be cancelled on PS3 if its sales on Xbox are bad.
In fact, no longer Square games on PS3 !

Nomura is really the last bastion and the only one who want work on PS3, even in his team it makes the atmosphere tense because they want work on 360.
Apparently, the pressure being, it could be that Nomura resigns soon .......
They have started dev 360 since March at Square.

SO4 is in 60 fps, FF XIII 30
If SO4 exceeds 1.5 million sales in the world, it remain exclusive for the 360

Squenix will focus on devs PSP and Xbox 360.

A demo version of FF XIII would be presented on Blu-ray FFVII AC Complete

MS will fund the delay of FF XIII if it were to happen ....

Thats it for now

This is frankly very bad




I don't know if thats the true translation, maybe someone can verify.

[Lordstar]

Well I still see this as a good thing. I mean if the programers want to produce games on the 360 and there being forced to make games for the PS3 would that not piss off the staff and then in turn make for poor productivity?

Imagine if the big boss at cave went yeah you know this board you all fucking love using to make games well now your going to make them on PS3? I can guess that the games would be not as good (at least for the first two or three games) becuase there not used to the new system and PS3 is hard to program for to my knolege.

ok that was kinda off track but the point is its there company and unless you own shares in S-E you can just shut up becuase its got nothing to do with you, and if you still dont like it dont buy there games anymore.

But really is anyone on this forum really arsed about the new FF not being PS3 exclusive?

[jp]

"If SO4 exceeds 1.5 million sales in the world, it remain exclusive for the 360 "



This will not happen.

[Taylor]

But really is anyone on this forum really arsed about the new FF not being PS3 exclusive?

I don't see how anyone can be annoyed about FF not being PS3 exclusive, it's not like they're making the 360 version instead. People kind of deserve to get burnt if they buy an expensive console for a single game before it even has a release date set, I'm not quite sure why so many people like to draw attention to the fact they've done this. Besides XIII Versus is still, officially, PS3. And Disgaea 3...

The PS3 is behind in US/UK but leading across Europe, Japan and Australia. The former is more vocal, but overall the console is far from dead on its feet. It also shows higher attach-rates to games like GTA4 and DMC4, that were previously exclusive, so people aren't buying it just for Blu-Rays either.

[BulletMagnet]

I don't see how anyone can be annoyed about FF not being PS3 exclusive, it's not like they're making the 360 version instead.

The thing is, for some reason, people really seem to hate the insinuation that no single game/series is good enough to be worth buying a new console for, exclusively...once any chance of their ability to say to their more sensible fellow gamers "see? I was ahead of the curve!" is kaput, the real reason they just spent those several hundred dollars (ie, to be able to brag about how loyal/hardcore they are, and how it all paid off in the end, unlike the situation of certain other people) is gone along with it. After all, if the game stays exclusive but turns out awful they can always rationalize and make excuses for it, but it's kind of hard to devote oneself to that extent when other people, whether intentionally or not, have a better means of experiencing it than you do.

[Dremark]

Lost Odyssey is amazing. The writing in it is second to nothing. The character developement is just insane.

Seriously man, they may have botched on the graphics in the in-game cut scenes and the villain may be a bit of a dork, but the only Final Fantasy thats better than LO is VI. Everything else pales in comparison. LO gets bonus points for destroying "level grinding" and FORCING the player to strategize (and for being hard as nails in so far as JRPGs go).

If it's even comparable to FFVI it's definately worth getting. I personally prefer FFV to it, but only by a slight margin. Also for someone that hates level grinding and having to use strategy/facing a challenging game, it sounds like it's practically perfect for me.

I'll probably make it my first purchase when I get around to buying a 360. Shame they couldn't give the game decent packaging for the discs.

[Dremark]

But really is anyone on this forum really arsed about the new FF not being PS3 exclusive?

I don't see how anyone can be annoyed about FF not being PS3 exclusive, it's not like they're making the 360 version instead. People kind of deserve to get burnt if they buy an expensive console for a single game before it even has a release date set, I'm not quite sure why so many people like to draw attention to the fact they've done this.

There's a couple of reasons. The first is that Square had said repeatedly that it was going to be a PS3 exclusive and that the game simply was not possible on the 360, so you have some people who bought it just for that and were basically lied to.

On the other hand you have people who back the PS3 and view that as a huge loss to the system itself. It was really the last huge exclusive that Sony had left and it's going to lose sales as a result, which means that less games are going to come out on it.

Personally, I was shocked when I first read it because Square had been so adamant about it being PS3 only, but it ultimately doesn't make much of a difference. I'm more than happy with my PS3, and outside of what jp recommended to me in this thread (Lost Odyssey) I really see no reason to get a 360 at this point (Although I know I will eventually anyways, I always end up getting all the consoles anyways).

[Dremark]

Lost Odyssey is amazing. The writing in it is second to nothing. The character developement is just insane.

Seriously man, they may have botched on the graphics in the in-game cut scenes and the villain may be a bit of a dork, but the only Final Fantasy thats better than LO is VI. Everything else pales in comparison. LO gets bonus points for destroying "level grinding" and FORCING the player to strategize (and for being hard as nails in so far as JRPGs go).

If it's even comparable to FFVI it's definately worth getting. I personally prefer FFV to it, but only by a slight margin. Also for someone that hates level grinding and loves having to use strategy/facing a challenging game it sounds like it's practically perfect for me.

I'll probably make it my first purchase when I get around to buying a 360. Shame they couldn't give the game decent packaging for the discs.

[dave4shmups]

AFIK, the RROD still happens, even with HDMI models, which is what worries me. At GameStop we even sell Product Replacement Plans with original used GBA's, but not for any used 360's. I don't know if that will ever change. I went in the store today, and heard from a fellow employee that, according to MS, the durability problems will be resolved in a month-but haven't we heard this sort of thing from MS before, about the better motherboard?? There's just no way to tell with MS, AFIK, not with lot numbers (360's with a lot # of 738 and above were supposed to have this motherboard in it, but some didn't), or power bricks.

IMO, the PS3 will eventually outstrip the 360 on graphics on most games, but how long it takes for that "untapped potential" to surface is anyone's guess, and we don't live in a patient society. Consumers aren't going to wait around for this potential to surface when they can get a console that, for $299.99 (the Pro), already has more exclusives, and IMO, an overall better game lineup.

And while we are talking about RPG's, let's not forget that Star Ocean 4 will be exclusive to the 360.

[Daedalus]

IMO, the PS3 will eventually outstrip the 360 on graphics on most games, but how long it takes for that "untapped potential" to surface is anyone's guess, and we don't live in a patient society.

I think it's simply not going to happen. This "untapped potential" supposedly comes from a CPU... how many computer games have you see have good graphics because they have a completely awesome CPU? None - It's the GPU that handles the brunt of the work.

Like I said before, the Cell's big advantage is in certain complex math work. It's not that developers are "still learning how to use it". It's that they simply don't want to, because it's too much work for too little gain and writing architecture-specific code hampers multi-platform development.

If SO4 exceeds 1.5 million sales in the world, it remain exclusive for the 360

Really? I find this a little hard to swallow... Square going 360-exclusive with a major franchise would annoy a lot of their fans.

[Taylor]

It certainly would've been nice for Sony, I don't doubt that. MGS4 increased console sales by 500% in the month it went out, and I'm sure they'd like another one of those.

[jp]

Lost Odyssey is amazing. The writing in it is second to nothing. The character developement is just insane.

Seriously man, they may have botched on the graphics in the in-game cut scenes and the villain may be a bit of a dork, but the only Final Fantasy thats better than LO is VI. Everything else pales in comparison. LO gets bonus points for destroying "level grinding" and FORCING the player to strategize (and for being hard as nails in so far as JRPGs go).

If it's even comparable to FFVI it's definately worth getting. I personally prefer FFV to it, but only by a slight margin. Also for someone that hates level grinding and having to use strategy/facing a challenging game, it sounds like it's practically perfect for me.

I'll probably make it my first purchase when I get around to buying a 360. Shame they couldn't give the game decent packaging for the discs.

Yeah, the packaging sucks for the US. Everywhere else got a decent package though.

But fuck it, LO is worth it. The dream sequences alone make the experience worth it. But then its a really awesome traditonal JRPG to boot.

[Strider77]

IMO, the PS3 will eventually outstrip the 360 on graphics on most games, but how long it takes for that "untapped potential" to surface is anyone's guess

It's taking a long time.... I have never seen a generation take this long to show some signs of being a stronger beast.

Right off the bat the PS1 showed it had better 3D, when the xbox 1 and GC game out you could easily see some extra juice under the hood. Especially after a year.

I still think it's probable the PS3 has some extra power under the hood but this is a 1st for taking so long to show something over the other. It's not like the 360's games aren't going to improve with time also.

MGS4 is the first PS3 game to wow me in a way the 360 hasn't.... but I'm not totally sure that's b/c of hardware.

[dave4shmups]

IMO, the PS3 will eventually outstrip the 360 on graphics on most games, but how long it takes for that "untapped potential" to surface is anyone's guess

It's taking a long time.... I have never seen a generation take this long to show some signs of being a stronger beast.

Right off the bat the PS1 showed it had better 3D, when the xbox 1 and GC game out you could easily see some extra juice under the hood. Especially after a year.

I still think it's probable the PS3 has some extra power under the hood but this is a 1st for taking so long to show something over the other. It's not like the 360's games aren't going to improve with time also.

MGS4 is the first PS3 game to wow me in a way the 360 hasn't.... but I'm not totally sure that's b/c of hardware.

Very true about the PS1. I didn't know that the Cell's big advantage is doing math, I'm not really clear how CPU's differ from GPU's. And 360 games will get better as well, that's a good point.

I'm wondering, though, if we'll ever see the same game running a lot better on the PS3 then it does on the 360-in the same way that some games that were ported to both the PS2 and the XBOX looked and ran better on the XBOX.

Both consoles have enough games for me to purchase one, if I could afford it, the 360 just has more. But I do love my PSP and DS, so those are keeping me busy, and I still have my PS2.

And it is always cool to hear about sku price drops, for the 360 Pro and for the 80 gig PS3. Tretton mentioned that the 80 gig will have "the same functionality" of the 40 gig-I hope that doesn't mean that you won't be able to play PS2 games on it!

Back OT, I really loved the demo that I played (came with Dragon Quest VIII) of FFXII, but some people seem to hate the battle system-why is that? I need to pick it up sometime. At any rate, the trailer for FF XIII makes it look like an entirely action-RPG.