Post by: capamerica on December 13, 2006, 12:10:08 PM
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Microsoft Xbox360
Far from being an ardent and vocal supporter of Microsoft's consoles, Square-Enix has largely avoided both Xbox and Xbox 360 (aside from the MMO Final Fantasy XI...which ironically was largely avoided by Xbox 360 gamers).
Such a stance may be changing however, with reports from one Japanese publication (Gamelabo) suggesting that Square-Enix may be working on two unannounced Xbox 360 titles...though further details weren't revealed.
Square-Enix themselves are yet to confirm the report, which comes just a day after the publisher announced that Dragon Quest IX would be released exclusively on Nintendo DS.
Does anyone else get a feeling that the 2 unannounced Xbox 360 titles could very well be Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Verses XIII.
Anyone who thinks that Sony won't let it happen I don't see Sony having much of a say where Square puts their games, If they did I don't they would have lost DragonQuest.
If Square is looking at it and sees that a PS3 alone isn't going to get them their money back they could easily say that they are going to port it over.
There is still a chance that it will be some new IP that Square shows off for the Xbox360. But you can't help but start connecting the dots.
- First its not just 1 game its 2 games Square is bring to the Xbox360.
- Sony just lost DragonQuest.
- BlueDragon is a HUGE hit in Japan which kind of shows that if you give Japan games they want they will buy any system.
- Creator of BlueDragon is the Creator of Final Fantasy, He might have some nudge power over at Square still.
- PS3 is doing pretty poorly in Japan. Most of the systems sold in Japan (just like in the US) were put right up on eBay. Sad thing unlike the US the PS3 was making next to retail on their auction sites.
- Even with a Hit like Final Fantasy, their is good odds that the profit will be no where near that of previous Final Fantasy games.
- Other PS3 exclusive titles are now being made Multiconsole.
- Not only has Namco/Bandai made the comment about NextGen games costing to much, But Square made a similar comment back a couple years ago. And that was before we even had a finished PS3.
Alot of studios are saying that its going to take a ton more sales to break even then it did with the PS2. Namco said it was going to take 500,000 games sold (for them) to break even. With a game like Final Fantasy I would imagien it will take FAR more.
The odds are not in favor of Sony keeping FFXIII exclusive.
This week alone dropped the odds alot for Sony. Had you asked anyone last week about DragonQuest they would have all said it would most likely be a PS3 game, including me.
Remember DragonQuest is much BIGGER then Final Fantasy, Sony could have delt with losing FF in Japan, but losing DQ was a much bigger hit. Its going to be funny to see how much it hurts Sony in the end.
Right after DQVIII was released their was already talk among fans that it was going to be the game that would sell them a PS3 hell GameFaqs even had a page up for DQIX listing it as a PS3 game.
Dragon Quest VIII went on to sell over three million copies within its first week, making it the fastest selling Japanese PlayStation 2 title ever.
By the time DragonQuest VIII was released in the US it had already sold 3.6 million in Japan.
By the time Final Fantasy XII was released in the US it had already sold 2.4 million in Japan.
Post by: SixthAngel on December 13, 2006, 01:58:23 PM
Post by: Bill Aurion on December 13, 2006, 02:00:16 PM
(Oh noes, I was totally going to use Wii-tan as my avatar after Christmas! *shakes fist at SixthAngel*)
Post by: Djunknown on December 13, 2006, 02:04:51 PM
I don't like this 'may' business, are they working on it or no?
At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if they announced something from the Chrono Trigger franchise, if you can it that. Square(Enix) loves to dish out surprises lately...
Post by: Bill Aurion on December 13, 2006, 02:18:26 PM
Post by: capamerica on December 13, 2006, 02:27:48 PM
I think the only reason they say 'may' is to just be on the safe side. as I said they are one of the last sites out there that I feel I can still trust and to date they haven't given me a reason to not trust them.
If the CT series returns it will most likely be for the DS or Wii.
Post by: Magik on December 13, 2006, 02:43:01 PM
Post by: Amodaus1 on December 13, 2006, 07:57:01 PM
1) Chrono cross was highly under funded and rushed because square wanted to axe the project but they got to far along
2) Chrono break got axed during the ps2 era
3) They will make piles more money by giving the rpg title FINAL FANTASY or DRAGON QUEST before they title it chrono.
4) Yeah i said 3 but its 4. Square sold its soul after shortly after ps2 was released. All they care about is FF and DQ cause it makes money. But with all this FFVII spin off garbage coming out lately, you gotta be wondering if they are bleeding for money. I mean FFVII is there untapped cash cow for rainy days, and they are using it now, and doing a poor job in making the spin offs might i add.
Either way, for chrono, what are the odds that square will reasemble the "dream team" for another chrono project? I mean cross was good, but the original was a timeless classic upon creation and it was becuase of the team. If they did make another chron, expect it to be less then trigger and cross.
Post by: capamerica on December 14, 2006, 12:58:52 AM
Well what about:
Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Children of Mana
Dawn of Mana
Front Mission 4 & 5
Front Mission Online
Code Age Commanders
Musashi: Samurai Legend
Drakengard 1 & 2
Grandia III
Heavy Metal Thunder
Radiata Stories
UNLIMITED SaGa
Romancing SaGa
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria
Mario Hoops 3-on-3
You can't blame them for milking FFVII, I mean gesh the retarded fanboys for that series are so freaken loud you can't help but listen to them. But hey at least Square put their foot down with doing a remake of the game. Plus seriously can you really say you never wanted to revisit any of the Final Fantasy worlds? I don't care at all for FFVII but man was I excited when they announced Final Fantasy X-2. I don't mind a sequal, but I do think they went a little crazzy with the 4+ sequals for FFVII.
I wouldn't count the Chrono series out just yet, I don't think alot of people saw a Valkyrie Profile sequel in the cards. and the Chrono series is defiantly more popular then that. from what I've read development is still very very early on a game. Last time Square talked about it they were still working on creating a story for the game, would you rather they create a sh!tty story just so you can have your 3rd Chrono game? And as for 'Chrono Break' that might have just been an idea they had for a name and they decided to change it, lots of studios register names that in the end they never use, just check out Nintendo's list of unused names.
Post by: Galford on December 14, 2006, 01:31:09 AM
I highly doubt that it will be FF13 because lack of space on the 360's DVDs.
FF13 will have lots of video.
Ironicly FF12 has lots of voice acting and FMVS and it fits on one dual layer DVD.
Can't say the same for the POS called Star Ocean 3.
Post by: capamerica on December 14, 2006, 01:51:20 AM
We don't know how big FFXIII will be, and the whole argument that there will be a lack of space is BS anyway. People keep saying that developers need Blu-Ray and that they are going to use up all that space. Well we haven't seen a singel game yet that needed Blu-Ray and I don't think FFXIII will be the first. Also just to point out, FFXII was not on a Dual Layer DVD it was on a normal 4.7GB DVD, infact FFXII is just under 4GB in size. If they were able to get FFXII on to one single layer DVD then I think they will most likley be able to get FFXIII on to at most a Dual layer DVD.
Post by: Artimus on December 14, 2006, 02:56:20 AM
Post by: Darc Requiem on December 14, 2006, 02:57:10 AM
Post by: couchmonkey on December 14, 2006, 03:27:28 AM
So what kind of support will SE show for Microsoft? Just like DQ IX on DS, I think the company will try to make the move that make the most business sense. That probably means either a spin-off or a port. Chrono Trigger? Hehehehe, you can stop that. For a sequel to that series to sell well, it needs to hit a huge number of core fans, right now DS or PS2 would be the best bet. A brand-new series is possible, but that's a lot of money to invest on a system that isn't known for RPGs.
My personal guess is a FF XIII port for some obvious reasons: the games probably have a huge budget, but PS3 doesn't have a huge fanbase. 360 doesn't have a huge fanbase in Japan either, but if there's one RPG series that's huge in North America, it's Final Fantasy. So why not get the most out of that big budget by porting the game to 360?
Post by: Ceric on December 14, 2006, 03:36:21 AM
Post by: KDR_11k on December 14, 2006, 03:54:05 AM
Of course that may be related to most games not using BluRay either and games usually being made to fit the constraints of the target hardware (i.e. games that are on DVDs are designed to fit on DVDs).
If they were able to get FFXII on to one single layer DVD then I think they will most likley be able to get FFXIII on to at most a Dual layer DVD.
FF13 is for a platform that requires developers to use HD. While the PS3's RAM is too small to do appropriately sized textures at 1920x1080 (actual developer complaints) it'd still get at least twice the texture resolution (4x the data), possibly more since the PS2 used REALLY low res textures and any FMV sequences would have to be at a HD resolution, too. While they would probably render those at a lower resolution and upscale them if space was critical the whole thing would still increase in size exponentially.
I wouldn't be surprised if Square-Enix had plans to quickly port FF13 to the 360 if the PS3 doesn't sell well. Currently the PS3's performance is questionable and it might end up selling too few units, while the 360 won't sell in Japan the US and European markets would probably have a sizeable userbase on the system so they might need a 360 version to reach those territories.
Post by: Ian Sane on December 14, 2006, 04:43:03 AM
I don't think making original games for the Xbox 360 is worthwhile but porting some of the games to the X360 solely for North America doesn't seem like such a bad idea. In Japan it's nothing but here in North America I think the Xbox 360 is at least assured the number two slot. It may be worthwhile to port some of their titles just to get some sales from a console that's popular in the biggest game market.
Post by: nitsu niflheim on December 14, 2006, 05:53:36 AM
Post by: Smash_Brother on December 14, 2006, 06:23:13 AM
Sony and MS are both snakes, and while it's good to see one of them killing the other off, that still leaves us with a fatter, bigger snake after one inevitably devours the other.
To make a simple analogy of what the gaming world would look like if MS held the power in the industry, imagine EA holding all the power in the industry: sh*tty rehashes of the same games year after year as well as low production values, no innovation to speak of and games which you buy twice due to most of the content being sold online.
MS is playing it coy now, understanding that they need to earn the trust of their customers and developers before they can truly rise to power, however, like Shakespeare said, "One may smile, and smile, and be a villain."
MS is no stranger to unethical business tactics, except that, unlike Sony, they have the good common sense to keep it on the down-low to avoid mountains of bad press. But like I said, they're a snake through and through and were they to rise to power in Sony's wake, it is my firm belief that the innovation and fun we see in consoles like the DS and Wii will be smothered in favor of an EA-like inundation of games which lack the spark and life which drew us all to Nintendo to start with.
I should also point out that MS seems to have absolutely no problem shaking off accusations of being a monopoly...
Post by: Ian Sane on December 14, 2006, 06:41:41 AM
Yeah but it's still SOME support. In the past Square and Enix only supported one system. Old Square would have supported either the DS or the PSP but not both.
Post by: KDR_11k on December 14, 2006, 07:16:08 AM
They publicly stated that their goal is to prevent a console monopoly for any of the manufacturers since they know that a monopoly holder loves to pressure third parties. They've suffered under Nintendo and they've suffered under Sony. Since we all know Microsoft we know what would happen with them, too.
I don't think making original games for the Xbox 360 is worthwhile but porting some of the games to the X360 solely for North America doesn't seem like such a bad idea.
What about Europe? Considering this continent lacks the excessive spending habits of the Americans and Japanese the PS3 will have an even harder time competing.
Post by: nitsu niflheim on December 14, 2006, 08:05:47 AM
Add that to these games, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, & Itadaki Street Portable and we're talking about Grade AA support here.
Gimme a break, you can't argue this is good support.
Post by: capamerica on December 14, 2006, 08:26:39 AM
FFT = PSX Port
Valkyrie Profile = PSX Port
Itadaki Street = PS2 Port
Post by: Ian Sane on December 14, 2006, 08:56:36 AM
It isn't good support. It's lousy support. But it's support nonetheless which is still more significant than no support at all. I was saying that Square Enix's support is becoming more multiplatform and PSP support, even if it's weak as sh!t, alongside strong DS support demonstrates that thus suggesting the Xbox 360 support is not out of the question.
Post by: couchmonkey on December 14, 2006, 10:19:19 AM
Smash_Bros. comments on Microsoft: I agree that it's definitely a good thing that the Japanese aren't very supportive of Xbox, but I don't see MS as quite as big a threat. I think Nintendo's new direction will throw Microsoft off its game a little, just like it has with PSP, though I think Microsoft might adapt better. Also bear in mind that not everyone at MS is OK with buying a spot in the console market. There are a couple of books on the creation of Xbox/360 that suggest there's a lot of internal turmoil over Xbox - it's considered a black sheep by a lot of execs in the company.
Double-Edit: Someone suggested Front Mission, I too think that would be a good fit for Xbox.
Post by: Amodaus1 on December 14, 2006, 11:17:47 AM
Either way, one thing is for cetain. If Xbox306 does not pull a profit, expect the side who wants nothing to do with the console industry to gain some momentum. And if Xbox 3 doesn't become the market leader, or reap revenue to cover losses from the first xbox (which were staggering) that will be what sinks MS boat.
What was their strategy again?
Xbox = alot of loss, but presence and market share
Xbox360 = Profits gained off the system, and increased market share
Xbox next = Market leader and dominant console
Post by: Kairon on December 14, 2006, 11:39:36 AM
They're succeeding more than they could have ever hoped.
Also, is Square becoming an EA that doesn't do multiplatform games?
~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Arbok on December 14, 2006, 12:13:12 PM
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Originally posted by: Amodaus1
What was their strategy again?
Xbox = alot of loss, but presence and market share
Xbox360 = Profits gained off the system, and increased market share
Xbox next = Market leader and dominant console
Their initial strategy was to gain market share during the first two generations and finally turn a profit on the third. That's probably changed, but that was their mentality going into this.
Post by: NWR_pap64 on December 14, 2006, 12:14:47 PM
I think the Front Mission theory works well. I actually believe that it could be expansions to FFXI 360, but considering the game flopped on the 360 I doubt it.
BTW, wasn't there an original MMORPG in the works for the 360?
Post by: Ceric on December 14, 2006, 04:03:23 PM
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Originally posted by: Kairon
Microsoft's strategy was this: keep Sony from winning and creating a living room set-top entertainment hub that would eat into their core OS business.
They're succeeding more than they could have ever hoped.
Also, is Square becoming an EA that doesn't do multiplatform games?
~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
QFT. Microsoft Game division wasn't bad before the original X-Box. In all actuality I rather have Microsoft win then Sony. The game console isn't there bread and butter. It's a multimedia hub and a way to fix there image. Especially against Apple. If they became number 2 and Nintendo number 1. I think MS would be happy with that if Nintendo didn't encroach on there Multimedia hub market. All the tie-in stuff would make up for it, Windows Mobile phones, Zune, Vista, etc.
Post by: segagamer12 on December 14, 2006, 04:40:44 PM
S-E sold their souls to the devil (sony) years ago, and now Bill Gates has come to reap.
Post by: Smash_Brother on December 14, 2006, 06:56:21 PM
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Originally posted by: Ceric QFT. Microsoft Game division wasn't bad before the original X-Box. In all actuality I rather have Microsoft win then Sony. The game console isn't there bread and butter. It's a multimedia hub and a way to fix there image. Especially against Apple. If they became number 2 and Nintendo number 1. I think MS would be happy with that if Nintendo didn't encroach on there Multimedia hub market. All the tie-in stuff would make up for it, Windows Mobile phones, Zune, Vista, etc.
Actually, Apple will be coming at MS head on because they have their own set top media box which they're releasing, one which wirelessly streams movies from iTunes onto your TV, among other things.
Then there's the iPhone...
Post by: Hocotate on December 14, 2006, 11:38:23 PM
I agree that Front Mission seems like a good fit to Xbox... Hmmm, does anyone remeber that space gundam looking game for 360 supposedly developed by S-E? The name escapes me atm.
Post by: capamerica on December 15, 2006, 12:29:20 AM
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Originally posted by: Hocotate
I agree that Front Mission seems like a good fit to Xbox... Hmmm, does anyone remeber that space gundam looking game for 360 supposedly developed by S-E? The name escapes me atm.
Project Sylpheed
They have a trailer up for it if you have a JP Xbox Live account, it looks really cool!
Post by: KDR_11k on December 15, 2006, 03:05:27 AM
