A recent issue of Famitsu revealed a startling fact about the upcoming demo for Final Fantasy XIII -- the playable preview will apparently last longer than the film that it is packaged with, Final Fantasy: Advent Children Complete. For those of you keeping score at home -- the original Advent had a runtime of 101 minutes. Assuming this length will only increase with the director's cut of the film means Square-Enix's eagerly anticipated demo could last longer than two hours.
To put that in perspective, here are a few things that the demo (which the same Famitsu article revealed will cover the very beginning of XIII) will likely last longer than: an expeditious playthrough of Portal, the Anglo-Zanzibar War, an international soccer match (barring any lengthy penalties), and the celebrity status of Lou Bega. (Who? Exactly.)
[Via PS3F]
Reader Comments (64)
Posted: Aug 16th 2008 2:41PM spin cycle said
Are we seriously talking about a playable preview 9 months before it comes out? The game is 2 years or more away from coming out in English.
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Posted: Aug 16th 2008 2:46PM falcomadol said
So, um, at only two hours, are you ever going to get a chance to actually play the game, or is it just the opening cinema?
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Posted: Aug 16th 2008 2:53PM (Unverified) said
This is Final Fantasy we're talking about, not Metal Gear Solid.
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Posted: Aug 16th 2008 3:22PM Vegeta has a ps3 said
But it is a jrpg. And those games are notorious for having long ass cutscenes.
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Posted: Aug 17th 2008 9:10AM Peacefuloutrage said
There is an assumption that there will be another 30 minutes of animation. This isn't a regular animated movie, it's CG. It can take weeks just to get a few minutes of video. I would assume storyboards, interviews, and maybe early placeholder animation, but not another 30 mins of high quality work.
That said, hopefully the people who play the demo will be satisfied. With the huge wait, I wouldn't want to be SE with all of the expectations they have set for this game.
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That said, hopefully the people who play the demo will be satisfied. With the huge wait, I wouldn't want to be SE with all of the expectations they have set for this game.
Posted: Aug 16th 2008 3:49PM Vegeta has a ps3 said
The last thing we need is to start a flamewar. So I'd say someone thought the comment was uncalled for.
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Posted: Aug 16th 2008 4:14PM SuperGayParade said
well vegita I thought your comment was uncalled for!
9999!
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9999!
Posted: Aug 16th 2008 3:05PM falcomadol said
The Bluray should play in a US Bluray player. US and Japan are in the same copyright region this time around.
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Posted: Aug 16th 2008 3:02PM (Unverified) said
Has to be something worthwhile to make up for the quality of the movie they're bundling it with.
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Posted: Aug 17th 2008 1:42AM (Unverified) said
rockin robin ... that was one of the best episodes. the teasers have been great, can't wait for the new season.
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Posted: Aug 16th 2008 3:41PM Mr Khan said
"Anglo-Zanzibar War"
You win a lot of respect for mentioning a fairly modern war that i had never heard of, history buff that i am.
On topic: Doing this is probably Square's way of showing that they're still on top of new technology, by filling up Blu-Ray space, just as they filled the spacious CD's and DVD's past
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You win a lot of respect for mentioning a fairly modern war that i had never heard of, history buff that i am.
On topic: Doing this is probably Square's way of showing that they're still on top of new technology, by filling up Blu-Ray space, just as they filled the spacious CD's and DVD's past
Posted: Aug 16th 2008 3:59PM HighFiveJesus said
if its true, its gonna be great for those blu ray sales of the movie release in japan. probably will see a notable rise in ps3s just to play the demo.
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Posted: Aug 16th 2008 4:11PM (Unverified) said
to all the xbox fans out there, this cant be on xbox live market, as development hasnt started for the 360 yet, and for those who think its not coming out in america, you are right, its japan only, but the demo is on a seperate ps3 disc, so that means that the game is not region locked, go to a good importing site like www.playasia,com to import this come march 2009
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Posted: Aug 16th 2008 4:15PM LaughingTarget said
Two hours for SquareEnix breaks out like this:
45 minutes gameplay
1 hour 15 minutes of movies
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45 minutes gameplay
1 hour 15 minutes of movies
Posted: Aug 16th 2008 4:27PM (Unverified) said
thank you for your informative and ever-so factual post.
not.
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not.
Posted: Aug 16th 2008 4:29PM SheppyReturns said
*checks Laughing targets play history*
Yep, never played one...
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Yep, never played one...
Posted: Aug 16th 2008 5:21PM HighFiveJesus said
cg cutscenes are usually a really cool part to see as you are playing through the game. they are a fan favorite. and what the hell are you yapping about as far as their length goes? they were never longer than a few minutes, and they only are in the beginning, end, and a few times throughout the game.
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Posted: Aug 16th 2008 5:28PM (Unverified) said
Please don't start a stupid flamewar over a DEMO. Please.
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Posted: Aug 16th 2008 7:14PM Hyams said
Guys, I'm joking.
Anyway, Snowblind, I doubt the demo will appear on either the XBL Marketplace or the PSN Store.
Final Fantasy games don't need demos to sell, but putting the demo in the blu-ray copy of Advent Children will signicantly boost the movie's sales.
Making the demo available anywhere outside the blu-ray movie will damage these sales, and meanwhile will not have any significant impact on the game's sales.
In other words, it makes no sense for Square Enix to make the demo available anywhere else.
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Anyway, Snowblind, I doubt the demo will appear on either the XBL Marketplace or the PSN Store.
Final Fantasy games don't need demos to sell, but putting the demo in the blu-ray copy of Advent Children will signicantly boost the movie's sales.
Making the demo available anywhere outside the blu-ray movie will damage these sales, and meanwhile will not have any significant impact on the game's sales.
In other words, it makes no sense for Square Enix to make the demo available anywhere else.
Posted: Aug 16th 2008 8:21PM HighFiveJesus said
just like the ff12 demo was on dragon quest 8 to help move copies in america. 20 bucks didn't hurt either, and its also a good game. but they do realize final fantasy fans will buy a FF movie for a FF demo.
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Posted: Aug 16th 2008 5:18PM (Unverified) said
Its a bit funny how all games have the same retail price, when titles like MGS, FF, GTA and Mass Effect probably cost much more than the others.
FF would probably end up costing 50-60 million, maybe even more, which is 4-5 times the typical title. Maybe there is a case for pricing it a bit higher, say $80?
And I suspect the reason MS sold off Bioware is such epic games suffer from the Shenmue effect - you need to sell a huge number of copies to break even, Mass Effect probably made a loss with sales of around 2 million.
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FF would probably end up costing 50-60 million, maybe even more, which is 4-5 times the typical title. Maybe there is a case for pricing it a bit higher, say $80?
And I suspect the reason MS sold off Bioware is such epic games suffer from the Shenmue effect - you need to sell a huge number of copies to break even, Mass Effect probably made a loss with sales of around 2 million.
Posted: Aug 16th 2008 5:36PM (Unverified) said
Bioware/Pandemic was an independant company before EA bought them, they just chose to work with Microsoft a lot.
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Posted: Aug 16th 2008 5:38PM (Unverified) said
I'm still waiting for this huge pendulum swinging announcement Bettenhausen said would come from Square, cause a demo for what will likely be a mediocre game isn't one. Yes I'm still pissed about that and no I won't let it go anytime soon.
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Posted: Aug 16th 2008 9:03PM falcomadol said
From one J. to another, I have to say that that was pretty brilliant.
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