Final Fantasy XIII series 'not exclusive to PS3 and mobile,' 360 ports still nonexistent
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Apr 18th 2007 at 6:04PM }
Square Enix director Motomu Toriyama hasn't told PSM Australia anything other than what we've already known: Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII is a collective of projects that has never been declared exclusive to one platform. Yet, when Toriyama suggests that Fabula Nova Crystallis "isn't just limited to three titles" and that "it's not simply exclusive to the PS3 and mobile phones," so many of us are willing to take a leap of faith, heralding these words as a death knell for Sony, and as a confirmation of FFXIII on Xbox 360. Before you join the feverish mob, remember to draw a distinction between the primary game, currently exclusive to PlayStation 3, and the general series, already totaling three titles (Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and Final Fantasy Agito XIII) and at least one loose logo, Haeresis ("Dissidia" is also possibly linked to FFXIII).Toriyama has merely reaffirmed that, like Final Fantasy VII, the FFXIII brand will be spun into an array of disparate shards, conveniently linked by a popular title. We may yet see a spin-off on 360 -- or even a port of the PS3 games -- but don't jump to that conclusion based on the PSM interview. Yes, we've still got Haeresis (and possibly Dissidia) without a home, but either DS or PSP, or dare we say Blu-ray, DVD, and UMD, are just as valid destinations as Xbox 360 -- don't count out PlayStation 2 or Wii either. Given all the fuss that Final Fantasy rouses, Square Enix would do best to deliver on all of 'em.
The moral is: Final Fantasy XIII -- the game -- is still exclusive to PlayStation 3.
[Via PS3 Fanboy]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
daniel @ Apr 18th 2007 6:15PM
way things are with square recently isnt it almost guaranteed theyll be something ff 13 on ds
jojo29 @ Apr 18th 2007 6:49PM
Thats cool if the 360 gets a spin-off, or maybe their own original game set in the "Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII" universe.
Heres my problem with Square's branching out idea. Where will the "core" story go? I'm lucky enough to own a PS3 and psp , and indirectly own a Wii and 360(my bro bought them, but he lives with me hehe ) so i will at least get to enjoy whatever variations come out. But the people who own only 1 or 2 of the systems, will only get a "spin-off" and not 'get' the whole story, if thats what interests me, which story's to me are why i love games. I get to read/watch a story unfold that i have control over.
It would suck to have FF13 on ps3, then have the 'spinoff' continue a part of the story, then when ff14 comes out i follow that story but then theres a loop hole that i missed in the 'spin off'.
Thats all im worried about. The story. The idea itself sounds pretty nifty in that we would all get a piece of the Final Fantasy pie.
Jonah Falcon @ Apr 18th 2007 6:23PM
Sounds like "Devil May Cry 4 is a PS3 exclusive. Period." from January 2007.
shadow024 @ Apr 18th 2007 6:28PM
Cmon put it on 360! you know it will be better!
hvnlysoldr @ Apr 18th 2007 6:30PM
No, pull an Enix and put the main one on DS.
TheGuy @ Apr 18th 2007 6:31PM
Recent interviews from developers of FF XIII have stated they're creating the game to be optimized for the PS3. If that results in things like using a lot of space on the Blu-Ray disk, I don't see how that could be ported to the 360 without reducing the quality of the game. Anyways, I wouldn't be surprised if Square Enix decided to throw the 360 a bone with some sort of FF game, but I highly doubt it'll be FF XIII or Versus.
Jonah Falcon @ Apr 18th 2007 6:36PM
" If that results in things like using a lot of space on the Blu-Ray disk, I don't see how that could be ported to the 360 "
Translation: We're going to do a ton of prerendered videos instead of in-game engine cutscenes (a la Mass Effect.)
Frankie @ Apr 18th 2007 6:50PM
If anything, we should see something for the Wii before we see anything on the 360.
Rubang B @ Apr 18th 2007 6:51PM
I think the main game will stay PS3 exclusive because Square are cutscene whores. It will have 50 gigs of videos, and maybe somewhere in the middle you press a button to select "fight" to fight a baddie. I imagine we'll also get some new snowboarding games for cell phones and such too.
TheGuy @ Apr 18th 2007 6:53PM
"6. " If that results in things like using a lot of space on the Blu-Ray disk, I don't see how that could be ported to the 360 "
Translation: We're going to do a ton of prerendered videos instead of in-game engine cutscenes (a la Mass Effect.)"
How does that refute my comment?
Tehcell @ Apr 18th 2007 6:57PM
Two games is only announced for only PS3 that is Final Fantasy VIII and Versus.The 360 will probaly get a part of the Final Fantasy VIII Fabula Nova Crystallis series..but keep in mind the other ones is a completly different game but set in the same universe.As of right now Final Fantasy VIII and Versus is still exclusive until sqaure say otherwise.
Ian Von Porter @ Apr 18th 2007 6:59PM
I'll take cutscenes over reading text bubbles (ie. every single nintendo game) any day.
Triforceowner @ Apr 18th 2007 7:03PM
@ TheGuy
Since when have RPG developers limited themselves to one disc? If FFXIII was ported to the 360, I wouldn't be surprised to see tree discs in the game. Doesn't matter, because the 360 instruction manual clearly states you are not supposed to leave games inside the disc tray while the system is not in use. So swapping discs should not be a problem for any 360 owner.
realstar @ Apr 18th 2007 7:06PM
Well, personally I would like to see the FinalFantasy series on Wii and PS3. I like the concept of a traditional "main" series entry on PS3 and a really unique high quality spin-off title appearing on the Wii. (with more focus on interesting gameplay using remote/nunchuck of course) Basically similar to how the Wii gets Umbrella Chronicles and PS3 gets ResidentEvil 5, since I have both consoles so it's really fun to play 2 different versions instead of just seeing a port-over.
Rod Munch @ Apr 18th 2007 7:11PM
I'm just really confused as to what the different FFXIIIs are and why they are needed other than as a marketing ploy to reach every type of gamer.
John @ Apr 18th 2007 7:53PM
Non exclusive mean Non exclusive moronic poster
FFXIII on 360 idiot
oldschoolgamer @ Apr 18th 2007 7:21PM
@ The Guy
I think the previous poster was trying to be sarcastic. He was trying to say he would rather have something new and different like Mass Effect with alot of gameplay with cut scenes being made by the in-game engine than a game full of cg videos with some gameplay squeezed in between videos. Usually FF games are heavy on the cg but the gameplay seems also to be solid most of the time. But is the rest of the world getting tired of FF? Personally I am. Pretty soon FF's roman numerals will catch-up to my age and I'm an old timer. And if developers have more room for cg videos (ala blue-ray or hd dvd discs) will they begin to fill up the empty space with more nothingness and less gameplay? I guess time will only tell.
SuicideNInja @ Apr 18th 2007 7:18PM
Bah...they should just port it to the 360. Then I can give my waste-of-space PS3 the boot. Well...then again, if XIII is a return to a quality story as in VII, VIII, and X, then I'll have to keep it for all the spinoffs.
Mr Khan @ Apr 18th 2007 7:27PM
I would agree that the main game will probably stay on the PS3, but they will do a number of spinoffs on all the other major consoles/handhelds, but VS 13 will probably appear on 360, just like FFXI did, because its supposed to be online focused, right?
And i think publishers are reluctant to announce ports for games that were originally planned to be exclusive. It's good PR to "stay loyal" and they only announce ports a la DMC, Viewtiful Joe, and RE4 when they conclusive prove that "staying loyal" is not financially viable
and Ian Van Porter: If you're thinking of Zelda, i could not disagree with you more. Link has always been the silent protagonist, and i would be offended if they gave him an actual "speaking" voice, beyond his usual one-liners and grunts
I still fear whether or not they'll give Samus a voice in MP3 (they're giving other guys voices there)
hvnlysoldr @ Apr 18th 2007 7:35PM
Well excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me Princess.
GiovanniMcAdoo @ Apr 18th 2007 7:38PM
Where did you read/hear Square said that Versus was going to be online based? Yet to see anything on that inless that was annouced today.
Jake @ Apr 18th 2007 7:39PM
Sarcasm on.
lol @ you tards. No FF game could be released on multiple discs. It just doesn't work. You can't have a multiple disc RPG on 360, period. You need blu-ray for good games like Resistance, Motorstorm, and Virtua Fighter.
Sarcasm off.
Technically, they could bring FFXIII to the 360. Aren't blu-ray PS3 games currently limited to 25Gb anyways, or are dual layered discs an option? That is only 3 DVD9 discs. Blu-Dragon did it. I think they could sell as many or more 360 FFXIII's as they could PS3 ones.
With that said, I still doubt it will go multi. They will just delay it until the PS3 fanbase can support an exclusive release.
Digi Smalls @ Apr 18th 2007 7:46PM
most of PS2's FFXII's prerendered cutscenes could've been done realtime on a PS3 or 360, and many of the cutscenes were in realtime on the the PS2 anyway.
metal gear has done pretty well with realtime cutscenes, ever since PS1. in spite of Resistance's needless prerendered cutscenes (why?), FMV really should be a thing of the past.
.
Ed @ Apr 18th 2007 7:52PM
FF X was a very linear game and the cut scenes showed just how linear very bad, HOwever I do enjoy CG as a reward for an accomplishment, or to help tell the story AKA FF VII, but the PS2 FF's did push the envelope a bit to far. I do understand why some are a bit disenchanted because of the CG.
Square has already said everything thats here. The core FF will stay with Soney and other games possibly another franchise will be developed for X-box. Whats so bad about that? And if you have a complaint... Well your the one who chose your system. And if you don't like the FF games than why are you on here complaining about them not being on the X-box or how happy you are. I mean "DAMN" you X-Fanboys are bi polor.
This FF XIII does seem to be a little far fetched in the marketing though, I have to admit that. This had better be one hell of a game if they want people to buy into several games besides the core. I know I'm about sick of the FFVII sequals.
Ragnarokender @ Apr 18th 2007 7:51PM
#6, I seriously doubt they're going to use all of the blu ray space and how do you know every spin off is going to be optimized for blu ray (not to mention optimize doesn't even mean make use of all of it).
#7, Final Fantasy storyline never continues from one main series to the next (e.g. 10 to 12), spin-offs may have related stories, but if you want to hear them all, start paying. Thats how its always been and how they like it.
Bluebreaker @ Apr 18th 2007 8:05PM
Square needs to learn about the dangers of overexposure.
Wasn't it about 5-10 years ago we were complaining that there weren't enough RPG's on consoles though?
B Tizo @ Apr 18th 2007 8:10PM
It can always be on multiple disks on the 360. I don't know why everyone is against multiple discs.
Ed @ Apr 18th 2007 8:17PM
@ Bluebreaker
I think your right, we were complaining about a lack of RPG's, But I think we've all learned to much of a good thing can be bad. LOL
Auron @ Apr 18th 2007 8:19PM
whats nextgen about multiple discs?
Ed @ Apr 18th 2007 8:30PM
@ B Tizo
The Disc thing started with PS2 and X-box. For some readon developers found it Taboo to create a game that took more than one disc. I had actually watched a local repoert on how some developers would go as far as to cut content in a game to fit it on one disc. The report never explaned why this had become such an obbsession with game makers, exspecially when you consider most consumers don't really care about multiple disks and it dosen't change the purchasing price. With Blue Dragon realeased on multiple discs, and developers seeing that the world didn't end, things may change.
jim @ Apr 18th 2007 11:04PM
Square is probably gonna release on both just to be smart and make even more money. if not, they can probably pull off making the disc running on both 360 and the ps3. if they do not, it'll come on the the ps3 first and she hows business is doing then release it on the 360 later.
mushiking @ Apr 18th 2007 9:01PM
they said "ps3 and mobile", which means the other games will just go to wii/ds/psp like have already been doing to begin with.
skullivan @ Apr 18th 2007 10:12PM
I'd be willing to bet that Haeresis is the US name for Versus. In Latin they both mean similar things.
letmethinkaboutit @ Apr 18th 2007 11:17PM
theguy you arent that ignorant on technology are you? The only quality that will be lose is how many times you have to load a new disk in the drive. But the gain is you dont have long load times so it will be better in that respect on the 360. Hint most people would rather put in 3 more disk that take less than 10 seconds. Than wait 40 secounds for every area of every level to load. Or wait 10 seconds for every fight to be fully ready to enjoy. When you consider how many fights there are on a RPG. The last thing we needed was more loading time in the next generation. But that is what the 40% slower ps3 blu-ray disk offers you. The graphics ability come from the cpu,gpu, and memory bus. and LACK of bottlenects all things that ps3 is only second in this generation.
The Exiled @ Apr 18th 2007 11:05PM
Bottom line is they don't put it on 360 they don't get my money and there are tons of others who feel the same way.
letmethinkaboutit @ Apr 18th 2007 11:17PM
Chew on this. They made and optimized armor core 4 for the PS3 from day one! Then ported it to 360 and improved the graphics in less than 3 weeks!!! And added xbox live! Still every multiplatform game is better on the 360 wether it was made for the ps3 or not. Better frame rates everytime,and better textures every time, and in most cases better AI! Why not put the game on the system that has the biggest market share. Why not put the game on the systems whose sales are always increaseing instead of decreasing? Why not put on the system with the best dev kits best graphics, best support, biggest craving for your game before someone else like mistwalker takes it over!
REP96st @ Apr 18th 2007 11:50PM
Screw Square/Enix... Youre buying into the FF name... M$ has Blue Dragon that is created by FF/Crono whatever creators... I would rather go with the creators than go with the name.. And that way I'm guaranteed a great gaming expierience.
REP96st @ Apr 18th 2007 11:55PM
#36.... Thats the best news i heard today...
On another note, I doubt S/E would put FF on the 360... Maybe a spin off like FFonline, but not the true FF game... They're Japanese, and would back the Japanese systems faithfuly.. M$ is American... Nuff said.
mushiking @ Apr 19th 2007 12:16AM
"Bottom line is they don't put it on 360 they don't get my money and there are tons of others who feel the same way."
they make a ton of money (you underestimate japan), and you don't get to play Final Fantasy. who really loses here?
Sidepocket @ Apr 19th 2007 2:50AM
Um, to the people saying they are going to port it ot the 360...
Have you seen the 360 sales chart in Japan. Final Fantasy XI for the 360 did not exactly fly off the shelfs. They are only publishing one game and that is it, your RPGs are mainly going ot be comming from Bioware and Mystwalker.
There is a bigger chance for DS, Wii and even PSP than 360.
Jake @ Apr 19th 2007 8:42AM
@40
American's will buy FFXIII. We've always bought FF games. FFVI doesn't really count, because it wasn't a true new full story game. 6 million americans will buy more copies than 2 million japanese. (I think?)
leo @ Apr 20th 2007 10:07AM
@31
"mobile" actually meant cellphones. Agito will be on cellphones
densetsu @ Apr 21st 2007 4:00AM
ok apparently you guys aren't smart enought to realise that FFXIII is a japanese rpg and xbox360 is american made. why does that add up well lets see xbox 360 sales in japan are horrible about 5% of japnese own a xbox360 the rest own ps3 ps2 and gamecube and wii.
now heres another thing main game is ps3 exclisive why. i read in game informer or a website that ffxiii is using a new engine for the graphics called white engine which is being made to run off of cell 4 out of 7 spe's. meaning if this game where to ever go on 360 they would have to remake the core engine for the graphics thjus seeing a kill in graphics and expect a later date like late 2008 - mid 2009. it would cost too much money to re-create (read their reason why they won't remake on ffvii you'll understand). no taken that info they would now have to design game disc switching points to allow the disc to be change (cost more money) then they would have to spend more money on the multiple disc which will be at least two and maybe 3 (just to let you know it will cost more money).
now all this would cost them in the 500,000-1,000,000 just so it would go on to 360 and it will divert them from making other games and other ff series.
that being said to an idiot who said ps3 uses 25gb discs no they use 50 gb discs.
also microsofts new 360 (just a bigger hdd nothing else other than being black) has decided to remove the hddvd drive so they will be using dvd 9 which is you know only 8.5 gb formated to about 7.9 gb.
now i happen to know that enchanted arms for ps3 was 16gb and since ffxii graphics murder them i would actually say it will be at least a 25 gb game and that would mean 4 disc for xbox 360.
ohh and um blu-ray having slow load times are you an idiot if its not formated right then yes. i only ever came across one game that had poor rate and that was sonic but that was a direct port without being reworked to run properly for blu-ray. and blu-ray has a faster read/wright head than dvds. so read up on finance technology and stuff before posting hopefull marks
also at the bottom of the very first post (the story) it says ffxiii (which is the parent story) is exclusive to ps3. so for all you people who believe 360 is god its not.
also every port from 360 to ps3 so far(sonic, enchanted arms, ac4) all had more content and all had same graphic (the ones that came to ps3) and some had better (ps3 to 360). but all of the ps3 games hold more contect then 360.
also i happen to hold an extreme amout of knowledge on computers (due to A+, html scripting and a bunch of others, and financial info from being a supervisor at a retail store, and from my brother who has a bachlor's in finance, he teaches me stuff about finance).
srsly ok @ Apr 22nd 2007 3:40PM
Lol, A+
A random person @ Apr 23rd 2007 9:06PM
@ 43
I know that must have taken you alot to right and what you say is true. However, it has also been stated that the "White Engine" which is the core engine on what the game runs on, is built to be an open platform engine, so I don't know if that will really affect the graphics like you said. Of course, the differences in their hardware would probably affect it but only by so much. I also don't really see the problem in just porting it over if the engine that they are using for this game is supposed to be able to be used on multiple platforms.
Brett @ Apr 24th 2007 12:18PM
@ 43
You are an idiot and really don't know what you are talking about and anyone who listens to you should kill themselves.
1st. Blu-ray does read slower, read up on what the makers of Oblivion had to say about Blu-ray
2nd. Since the 360 is a multi-core engine just like the ps3, and has such great development kits, it would make them a lot more money to port it, or hell just switch right now to the 360 and can the ps3 version. Oh, and do you think 1 million dollars matters to them when they spent 127 million on that terrible spirit within movie.
3rd. The content if they fill it with high def. cg would probably take about three discs, but the coding needed to make it a multi-disc game is simple, and guess what Square is damn good at it, making it even easier!
4th. All Japanese developers are falling in love with the 360, it doesn't mean shit that the japanese public isn't..the 360 is a cash cow..deal with it you damn idiot fanboy
5th, and last, I want to apologize to anyone who had to read densetsu's post.
Aud @ May 9th 2007 7:43PM
@43
1)"ok apparently you guys aren't smart enought to realise that FFXIII is a japanese rpg and xbox360 is american made. why does that add up well lets see xbox 360 sales in japan are horrible about 5% of japnese own a xbox360 the rest own ps3 ps2 and gamecube and wii."
It DOES NOT matter if the Xbox 360 is American made. It DOES NOT matter that FF XIII is Japanese. IT JUST DOES NOT MATTER. That's like saying...
"Why aren't you buying *fill in the blank*?"
"OMGESUS BECAUSE IT WAS MADE IN JAPAN!!!"
2)"ffxiii is using a new engine for the graphics called white engine which is being made to run off of cell 4 out of 7 spe's. meaning if this game where to ever go on 360 they would have to remake the core engine for the graphics thjus seeing a kill in graphics and expect a later date like late 2008 - mid 2009."
The White Engine is a MULTI-PLATFORM engine, meaning that it IS possible to port over the game WITHOUT having to reduce the graphics, and in turn would not cost as much as you think to bring it over the the 360. So the moral here is... they will NOT have to make a new engine for the game. It is also actually only 4 to 6 SPEs, not 7. Hmmm... I could have also sworn that this game was supposed to be for the PS2 using the EXACT SAME ENGINE, meaning that the PS2 must have been capable enough to handle it. Not to say that the 360 is not powerful... noooo, I heard it's ALOT more powerful than the PS3.
3)"no taken that info they would now have to design game disc switching points to allow the disc to be change (cost more money) then they would have to spend more money on the multiple disc which will be at least two and maybe 3 (just to let you know it will cost more money)."
Not if the engine is made to be multi-platformed, which in turn, will also lower the cost of porting it over to the PS3. And hell, if Square is willing to spend a helluva lot of money on the FF movies, why wouldn't they do it so that they can gain more money from the games. I also doubt that they will lose alot of money from porting it over if alot of people are willing to buy it for the 360. They look like they would recieve a lot more money if they made it multi-platform rather than just an exclusive which is already expensive. Spend alot but gain more, isn't that what they're aiming for?
4)"now i happen to know that enchanted arms for ps3 was 16gb and since ffxii graphics murder them i would actually say it will be at least a 25 gb game and that would mean 4 disc for xbox 360"
... I've been staring at this sentence for five minutes but what I think you're getting at is that since one game was 16 GB, you would assume that moving FFXIII would be at least 25 GB?? Let's not forget that Squeenix is pretty good at compressing gaming content WITHOUT ruining the gaming experience, and damn are they good at it. Remember, never assume because it makes an ass out of you and me.
5)"ohh and um blu-ray having slow load times are you an idiot if its not formated right then yes. i only ever came across one game that had poor rate and that was sonic but that was a direct port without being reworked to run properly for blu-ray. and blu-ray has a faster read/wright head than dvds. so read up on finance technology and stuff before posting hopefull marks"
What the hell does financing technology have ANYTHING to do with how fast the Blu-Ray load times are? If I looked up my "stuff" correctly, you mean technology finance, which helps your business keep up with new technology that can help your business grow, because I'm sorry but there is no finance technology which would just mean in the american translation, "giving money to help technology grow." But back on topic, Blu-Ray HAS been known to have slow loading times, and the the PS3's 8x DVD is FASTER than their 2x BD, which means that the 360's 12x HD-DVD is faster than the PS3's games. It also doesn't matter if the "read/wright" is faster than a HD-DVD if the system can't handle it.
6)"also at the bottom of the very first post (the story) it says ffxiii (which is the parent story) is exclusive to ps3. so for all you people who believe 360 is god its not."
Ummm.. no one has even remotely implied that they thought that the 360 was God. They just said that it would be really cool if FFXIII was also developed for the 360. This also reminds me of what a certain someone said about DMC 4. It went something like..." Devil May Cry 4 is a PS3 exclusive. Period."
and finally...
"also i happen to hold an extreme amout of knowledge on computers (due to A+, html scripting and a bunch of others, and financial info from being a supervisor at a retail store, and from my brother who has a bachlor's in finance, he teaches me stuff about finance)."
... html scripting is used to make webpages, so good for you and that A+, and good for you for being a supervisor at a retail store, but I don't think that your estimates come CLOSE to how much money it takes to make a video game. I wouldn't know, so don't ask me. I'm just a junior in high school. You can think of me as a stupid girl who's still in high school and doesn't know anything about real life, but I wouldn't care. It's fun to dissect informatin that is so opinion based it's not even funny.
I wouldn't mind FFXIII going to the 360 because it would basically be a win win situation for the consumer and Squeenix. I'd buy a 360 before I even touch a PS3.