Final Fantasy XIII Compromised to Please 360 Owners

[Whistler777]

Yesterday, we covered an interview with Final Fantasy XIII (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) producer, Yoshinori Kitase, which had him reassuring fans that FFXIII going multiplatform did not compromise design at all. Today, we have here Kitase talking to GameTrailers, and admitting that the PS3 version has been indeed compromised to "keep both versions of the game identical."

Specifically, the PS3 version will not have the Japanese voices with English subtitles because, well, it can't fit on the Xbox 360 and since they want to be "fair" to both platforms, then they won't put it on the PS3 as well - regardless if it can afford to have the Japanese audio track or not. Which it totally can.


Not only that, but the pacing of the PS3 version will also be affected because of the Xbox 360 version. Analyzed PS3 Center:

When Final Fantasy moved to PlayStation 2, it only ever appeared on 1 DVD. This meant that unlike previous iterations on the original PlayStation, every area within the game could technically be open at any time. In previous games, some areas appeared on some discs, and were closed off in others. The same can even be said for games such as Lost Odyssey on the Xbox 360, due to the space constraints of the DVD, the majority of side-quests appeared on the final disc. Final Fantasy XIII will be affected in the same way.


This is not a huge problem if an RPG is 360 exclusive or developed for Xbox 360 first, but if it is meant to be developed on the PS3 first and take advantage of ALL it's features, then it is a problem.


If the game was on a single Blu-Ray disc, it would allow the player to explore many areas, and many side-quests at any time throughout the game. However, due to the DVD limitations of the Xbox 360, the game will be cut up, and many areas you visit at the beginning of the game will most likely not be available towards the end of the game. This may be one of the main reasons that many PS3 fans are looking forward to Final Fantasy Vs XIII more than Final Fantasy XIII, because Versus represents an upgrade in scale whereas Final Fantasy XIII is actually a downgrade from earlier Final Fantasy games in that sense.

[a href="http://www.qj.net/Contrary-to-what-Square-Enix-would-have-us-believe-FFXIII-PS3-IS-compromised/pg/49/aid/134299#comments"]Source[/a]

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After having just seen this on Overclock.net, I thought I'd bring the news to you. As a PS3 owner, I'm more than a little vexed at the fact that game developers seem hellbent on not taking advantage of the Blu-Ray disc format.

 

[Emphraim]

There have been about threads about this within the last 3 days here.

I've read about this 2 weeks ago on Sankaku Complex and while I don't have a PS3, I can feel the pain of all the PS3 owners who have the game graphics weakened to allow the game to be ported to the 360. As a PC gamer, I often have to deal with bad ports of console games that require more power to run than their console equivalents while looking just as good or even worse. GTA4, I'm loooking at you.

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

Um... it seems odd that one of the reasons people payed 200+ extra bucks is taken away for "fairness".

 

[oliveira8]

Whats the difference betewen FF13 Versus and FF13?

 

[HippySecond]

I think I died a little inside

 

[Biosophilogical]

What the hell is wrong with them!!! FFXIII belongs on the PS3, how dare they hurt its quality for the benefit of Xbox 360 owners *epicly sarcastic and derogatory voice* Those people better watch themselves cause the moment my ninjas get back from doing my grocery shopping they are so dead!!! ... actually if they are dead they can't fix the problem ... they are so threatened!!!

 

[Awexsome]

Shame that this will cause more hate between the two consoles, if there wasn't enough already.

I only have a 360 so I was just happy I would get to play FFXIII. Hell I would've been thrilled if they said it came on multiple disks because that usually means that there's a lot of content that they could've cut but kept in with the slight inconvienience of another disk.

 

[Aardvark]

Fairness? Rubbish, it was taken away for business. Square realised the dollar dollar bills that could be made by dropping it on both systems and that more of them would be profit if they made one game first, then tailored it for each system.

If anything, you should blame Sony for making their system so damn boring that people would rather deal with a system that explodes on a regular basis.

 

[Overlord2702]

I dont like it to. Why should the game suffer just because it had to fit on a inferior product (the disc drives im getting at not the system) It like releasing game made for the 360/PS3 on PS2 and have half the stuff cut out just so it could fit *aaahhhNFSCarbonchoooooooo*

 

[Whistler777]

If anything, you should blame Sony for making their system so damn boring that people would rather deal with a system that explodes on a regular basis.

Why hello fanboy, how you doing? Been playing any Halo lately? Golly, it's great, being narrow-minded and all, isn't it!

 

[scnj]

Wow. Really? I was gonna get it on PS3 for the reason that I wouldn't have to listen to the shitty English dubbed voices and that I'd be able to play through seamlessly on one disc, and now they've taken those options away from me? Not only that, but then they have the gall to call it fair?

I'm not a Sony fanboy. I own both a PS3 and an Xbox 360 and use both regularly. But, the PS3 is a more powerful piece of hardware and uses a more powerful format with larger storage capacity. That's something that the Xbox 360 fans should have to deal with by themselves, but the fact is that now I'm being offered an inferior product in order to placate that fanbase. If this is Square's idea of fair, Final Fantasy XIII suddenly isn't looking so appealing on either platform.

 

[traceur_]

This is bullcrap!Fairness be damned. What 360 owners would actually care that the PS3 version let's you go everywhere at any time enough to demand that PS3 users be handicapped.? There is absolutely no reason for this.

If this goes through I will have an aneurysm.

 

[scnj]

I guess we know what the next game to be boycotted is.

 

[thiosk]

ff13 stopped looking appealing about the time FFX came out.

 

[willard3]

This is bullcrap!Fairness be damned. What 360 owners would actually care that the PS3 version let's you go everywhere at any time enough to demand that PS3 users be handicapped.? There is absolutely no reason for this.

If this goes through I will have an aneurysm

Who said 360 owners demanded that the PS3 users be handicapped? I haven't heard anyone say "if they can have it on one disc, so can we". For that matter, the article didn't say it either.

At least it's not "taking out game mechanics"...it's losing the Japanese voices.

 

[Aardvark]

Why hello fanboy, how you doing? Been playing any Halo lately? Golly, it's great, being narrow-minded and all, isn't it!

Because not a single 360 player on the face of the planet has ever decided to diversify their console collection. Obviously, since I support the 360, I couldn't possibly have blown $680 on a glorified DVD player and been bored to tears by LBP, Resistance 1&2, Killzone 2, then decided to cut my losses and stick with the consistent winner. Nope, it's obvious, since I spoke favourably about the 360, I've never seen a PS3 and must have had help just to figure out the spelling of the thing. Golly, it's great, being narrow-minded and all, isn't it!

 

[Illusio]

I'm a Xbox owner myself, and I believe that games are a type of art and art shouldn't be edited, so this honestly pisses me off and makes me hate my own system even more "RROD". I apologize to all the PS3 owners for the editing that has to be made to "Be Fair".

 

[phar]

To be fair why cant I play FF13 on my PC or Wii. Square showing so much favoritism to Sony and MS here

I cant wait till about 3 months before versus comes out and they go "surprise we are putting it on 360 as well guys!"

 

[ModReap]

This is stupid.

Saying this is like saying that any of the multi-platform games should be downgraded to only the Wii's potential to be "fair". This news infuriates me to no end even though I will have no part in experiencing this downgrade. A heartfelt "Wow that sucks...." to all PS3 owners :\.